Frome Valley CofE First School

Frome Valley CofE VA First School is a caring, orderly school where pupils enjoy attending and behave well. Adults know pupils well, and the school’s nurturing ethos, community links and wider opportunities—such as clubs, pupil leadership roles and trips—are strengths. Safeguarding is effective, and pupils’ personal development and behaviour are good. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. Teaching is uneven because some staff lack subject expertise, and work sometimes fails to deepen pupils’ knowledge or match the intended curriculum. Pupils with SEND are identified early but do not consistently receive effective adaptations, so some are given tasks that are too hard and their progress slows. Reading is a high priority: staff have been retrained in phonics and most pupils are supported well, but a small group have gaps assessed inaccurately and encounter words they cannot decode. The early years curriculum also needs better oversight because pre-school and Reception provision are not linked coherently enough, so children do not always build on prior learning. The trust has accurately identified the main issues and begun to address them, including more systematic times-tables teaching. This is the school’s first section 5 graded inspection after a previous section 8 inspection, and a new head of school took up post shortly before the inspection.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, secure and well cared for
• Behaviour and attitudes are good; pupils are polite and disruption is rare
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and try their best
• Personal development is strong, with clubs, leadership roles and community links
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Reading has a high priority, with story time and retrained phonics teaching
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, with clear systems for recapping knowledge
• The trust has accurately identified key issues and begun providing support
• Parents praise the school’s nurturing ethos

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement
• Teaching is variable because some staff lack subject expertise
• Some work does not deepen pupils’ knowledge or match the intended curriculum
• Some pupils with SEND do not receive effective adaptations and are given work that is too difficult
• Early years pre-school and Reception curriculums are too separate, so children do not always build on prior learning
• A small number of pupils’ phonics gaps are checked inaccurately, leaving them unable to decode some words
• Leadership and management require improvement

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 Frome Valley CofE First School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.2% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Frome Valley CofE First 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 Frome Valley CofE First School had 22.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.9% 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, 14.9% of pupils at Frome Valley CofE First School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.1% 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 Frome Valley CofE First School received £6,065 and spent £6,687 for each of its 154 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £56,000 (£364 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Wessex Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,381 and spending £7,135 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 Dorchester · Dorset local authority: places and applications

Frome Valley CofE First School is part of Wessex Multi Academy Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown Dorchester
• Puddletown Church of England First School Dorchester
• Manor Park Church of England First School Dorchester
• St Osmund's Church of England Middle School Dorchester
• Dorchester Middle School Dorchester
• The Thomas Hardye School Dorchester
• Damers First School Dorchester
• Milborne St Andrew First School Blandford Forum
• Bere Regis Primary and Preschool Wareham
• Piddle Valley Church of England First School Dorchester

What is Frome Valley CofE First School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Frome Valley CofE First School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in February 2025.

When was Frome Valley CofE First School last inspected by Ofsted?

Frome Valley CofE First School was last inspected in February 2025.

How many pupils does Frome Valley CofE First School have?

Frome Valley CofE First School has 141 pupils on roll.

What age range does Frome Valley CofE First School cover?

Frome Valley CofE First School for pupils aged 2 to 9.

Where is Frome Valley CofE First School?

Frome Valley CofE First School is at School Drive, Crossways, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 8WR.