Charfield Primary School

Charfield Primary School is a warm and welcoming school where pupils enjoy learning and feel included. Inspectors found provision to be strong across the curriculum, behaviour, personal development, leadership and early years, with high expectations that pupils meet. Reading is a clear priority: children learn to read from the start, phonics teaching is effective, and pupils who fall behind get timely support. The ambitious curriculum sets out the knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils should gain, and most teachers use activities that help pupils remember important content. Pupils behave well, attend regularly and benefit from a wide personal development offer, including clubs, trips, leadership roles and community activities. Support for the growing number of pupils with SEND has been strengthened, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leaders know the school well and have acted on areas where older pupils did not reach the higher standard in mathematics and spelling, punctuation and grammar in 2024. The trust and local community council provide useful support and challenge, and staff feel valued. The main area for improvement is that, in a small number of subjects, learning activities are not precise enough, so some pupils do not build secure knowledge. This was the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and the first section 5 inspection since 2015, when the school was previously judged outstanding and exempt from routine inspection; it is now part of the Castle School Education Trust.

Strengths

• Warm and welcoming school where pupils feel included and enjoy attending.
• High expectations for behaviour are consistently met; pupils are polite and motivated.
• Ambitious curriculum identifies the knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils need from early years to Year 6.
• Reading is a priority, with effective phonics teaching and swift support for pupils who fall behind.
• Most teachers use learning activities that help pupils learn and remember important content.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND, including precise plans and effective adaptation of learning.
• Pupils behave well in lessons and social times, and attendance is managed effectively.
• Personal development is central, with clubs, trips, leadership roles and community activities.
• Trustees and the local community council provide effective support and challenge.
• Staff feel valued and workload is considered.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, learning activities are not precise enough, so some pupils do not gain knowledge as securely as they could.

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 Charfield Primary School attended 95.5% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Charfield 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 Charfield Primary School had 22.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.9% 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, 11.0% of pupils at Charfield Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Charfield Primary School received £6,611 and spent £6,612 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £134,000 (£639 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of Pathway Trust, income was £7,571 and spending £7,443 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 Wotton-Under-Edge · South Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

Charfield Primary School is part of Pathway Trust, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Tortworth Primary School Wotton-Under-Edge
• The Castle School Bristol
• Marlwood School Bristol
• Lyde Green Primary School Bristol
• Downend School Bristol
• Mangotsfield School Bristol
• Severn Beach Primary School Bristol
• Cherry Garden Primary School Bristol
• St Anne's Church Primary School Weston Super Mare
• Castle Batch Primary School Weston-Super-Mare

What is Charfield Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Charfield Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Charfield Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Charfield Primary School have?

Charfield Primary School has 209 pupils on roll.

What age range does Charfield Primary School cover?

Charfield Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

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

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Charfield Primary School?

Charfield Primary School is at Wotton Road, Charfield, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8TG.