Abbots Hall Primary School

Abbots Hall Primary Academy is a happy, welcoming and nurturing school where pupils feel safe and are proud of their school. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection; it is a single-academy trust school with a new headteacher appointed in January 2022, and it has expanded its nursery provision and published admissions number since the previous inspection. Inspectors found most areas to be good, with personal development and early years provision standing out as outstanding. Pupils, including those with SEND, enjoy learning and achieve well across a broad and ambitious curriculum. The school’s strengths include strong relationships, positive behaviour, effective reading teaching, well-established SEND support and an exceptional wider development programme. Children in the early years get an excellent start, and staff feel well supported by leaders and governance. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and attendance is a key priority with effective systems in place. Parents are delighted with the safe and nurturing environment. The main area for improvement is that tasks are not always adapted well enough to pupils’ needs. As a result, some pupils do not build securely on prior learning, and gaps or misconceptions can remain unaddressed. The school should ensure teachers provide appropriately adapted tasks so all pupils can secure their skills and knowledge effectively.

Strengths

• Nurturing relationships create a happy, safe and welcoming school.
• Pupils behave well, are polite and considerate, and classrooms are calm and purposeful.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with key knowledge clearly identified.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and explain new learning clearly.
• Reading is prioritised and taught well, with effective support for pupils who fall behind.
• Early years provision gives children an excellent start through timely support and an ambitious curriculum.
• SEND identification and support are effective, including bespoke provision in the Luxembourg Class.
• Personal development is exceptional, with varied enrichment, trips and leadership opportunities.
• Attendance is a key priority, supported by effective systems and understanding of individual circumstances.
• Staff feel supported by leaders, and governance provides effective support and fulfils statutory duties.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Tasks are sometimes not adapted well enough to pupils’ needs.
• Some pupils do not build securely on prior learning, leading to gaps or misconceptions.
• In some lessons, some pupils do not learn as well as they could because work is not appropriately adapted.

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 Abbots Hall Primary School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.2% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Abbots Hall 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 Abbots Hall Primary School had 23.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 11.9% of pupils at Abbots Hall Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% 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 Abbots Hall Primary School received £6,090 and spent £6,072 for each of its 390 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £9,000 (£23 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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All schools in Stanford-Le-Hope · Thurrock local authority: places and applications

What is Abbots Hall Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Abbots Hall Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Abbots Hall Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Abbots Hall Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Abbots Hall Primary School have?

Abbots Hall Primary School has 437 pupils on roll.

What age range does Abbots Hall Primary School cover?

Abbots Hall Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Abbots Hall Primary School?

Abbots Hall Primary School is at Abbotts Drive, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, SS17 7BW.