Putnoe Primary School

Putnoe Primary School is performing well, achieving a grade of 'Good' overall with exceptional strengths in behaviour, attitudes, and leadership. The school has successfully recovered from a challenging period following the previous headteacher's death in 2021, with improvements seen in key stage 2 attainment. Leaders focus on pupil welfare and engagement, fostering a harmonious, inclusive environment where diverse backgrounds are respected and celebrated. The school's ambitious curriculum supports a love for learning, although there are opportunities for further enhancement in writing across subjects. The leadership team has established effective strategies for teaching reading and ensuring all pupils, including those with special educational needs, receive appropriate support. Overall, pupils are happy, courteous, and eager to learn, contributing positively to the school's strong culture of respect and community involvement. Areas for improvement include enhancing writing development across the curriculum to ensure all pupils reach their full potential.

Strengths

• Outstanding behaviour and attitudes among pupils.
• Effective leadership and management that prioritize pupil welfare.
• Ambitious and broad school curriculum.
• Effective teaching approach in reading, fostering confidence and fluency.
• Strong personal development opportunities for pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Insufficient opportunities for some pupils to develop writing skills across the curriculum.

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 Putnoe Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.6% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Putnoe Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 2 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 Putnoe Primary School had 25.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.9% 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, 13.8% of pupils at Putnoe Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Putnoe Primary School received £6,906 and spent £6,816 for each of its 501 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £334,000 (£667 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.

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What is Putnoe Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Putnoe Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2024.

When was Putnoe Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Putnoe Primary School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Putnoe Primary School have?

Putnoe Primary School has 494 pupils on roll.

What age range does Putnoe Primary School cover?

Putnoe Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Putnoe Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Putnoe Primary School?

Putnoe Primary School is at Church Lane, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK41 0DH.