Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School

Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School is a happy, welcoming and inclusive school where Catholic values underpin daily life and pastoral care is strong. Pupils feel safe and most behave well, and they benefit from a prioritised reading curriculum, effective phonics, well-focused support for pupils with SEND and highly effective mental health support. Safeguarding is effective. However, the school has recently been through staffing turbulence, and until recently expectations of pupils' achievement were not high enough. A more ambitious curriculum is now in place but is not yet delivering consistently strong outcomes. The inspection found weaknesses across all key judgements. Teachers' subject knowledge is not yet strong enough, assessment does not sharply identify what pupils know and can do, and teaching is not routinely adapted to challenge pupils of different abilities. Leaders' monitoring and evaluation have not given an accurate view of performance, so improvement has been too slow. Behaviour expectations are applied inconsistently, leading to low-level disruption for some, and some pupils, including those with SEND, do not attend regularly enough. Some parents are unhappy with communication and how concerns are handled. The trust's support is beginning to have a positive impact, but much work remains. The school must strengthen subject expertise, sharpen assessment and adaptation, improve leadership evaluation, tackle attendance and apply the behaviour policy consistently so that the recent curriculum work translates into better learning for all pupils.

Strengths

• Happy, welcoming and inclusive school community
• Catholic values are at the heart of school life
• Strong pastoral support and trusting relationships between staff and pupils
• Pupils feel safe and enjoy school
• Most pupils behave well and are polite and respectful
• Reading is prioritised, with effective phonics teaching and good support for pupils who struggle
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported well to access the same curriculum
• Support for pupils' mental health and well-being is highly effective
• Pupils take pride in responsibilities such as chaplains and house captains
• A range of extra-curricular opportunities, including sport and music
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• The trust's support is starting to have a positive impact

Areas for Improvement

• Expectations of pupils' achievement have not been high enough until recently
• The recently introduced ambitious curriculum is not yet delivering consistently strong outcomes
• Teachers' subject knowledge is not sufficiently strong across all subjects
• Assessment does not sharply identify what pupils already know and can do
• Teaching is not routinely adapted to challenge pupils of different abilities
• Leaders' monitoring and evaluation do not provide an accurate view of what is going well
• Improvement has been slowed by staffing turbulence
• Behaviour expectations are applied inconsistently, leading to low-level disruption
• Some pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not attend school regularly enough
• Some parents are dissatisfied with communication and how concerns are handled

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 7.7% of pupils at Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School had 18.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 19.7% of pupils at Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School received £10,081 and spent £9,498 for each of its 117 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £130,000 (£1,115 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of The Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, income was £6,402 and spending £6,277 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Calne · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School is part of The Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Chippenham
• St John's Catholic Primary School Bath
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Bath
• St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome Frome
• Christ The King Catholic School, Amesbury Amesbury
• St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Radstock
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary Wincanton
• St Joseph and St Teresa Catholic Primary School Wells
• Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Weston-Super-Mare
• St Gildas Catholic Primary School Yeovil

What is Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2025.

When was Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School was last inspected in November 2025.

How many pupils does Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School have?

Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School has 76 pupils on roll.

What age range does Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School cover?

Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 39% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School?

Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School is at Duncan Street, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 9BX.