Puddletown Church of England First School

Puddletown Church of England First School is performing well overall, with good judgements across the inspected areas. Pupils are described as well behaved, safe, attentive and eager to learn, and relationships between staff and pupils are warm and trusting. The school is ambitious for pupils, places reading at the heart of the curriculum, and provides effective personal development and pastoral support. Parents speak positively about the school, and pupils value leadership roles such as the school council. The school is part of Wessex Multi Academy Trust and serves pupils aged 4 to 9. Trustees and governors have a strong understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and use this to challenge and support leaders. Since the previous inspection, the school has worked decisively to improve provision, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement concern consistency. Routine checks of pupils’ understanding are not always carried out well enough, and lessons are not always adapted so that all pupils keep up and remember essential knowledge. Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is not consistently matched precisely to their needs, which can limit how well some pupils secure new learning and progress through the curriculum.

Strengths

• The school is ambitious for pupils and combines care with high expectations.
• Pupils behave well, feel safe and are attentive in lessons.
• Staff know pupils very well and build warm, trusting relationships.
• Pupils are proud to take on leadership roles and feel listened to.
• Trustees and governors have a strong, detailed understanding of the school and challenge and support leaders appropriately.
• Teachers present information clearly and model new learning well.
• Reading is at the heart of the curriculum, and phonics is delivered consistently well.
• The school has well-considered strategies to help pupils who need additional reading support catch up.
• Personal development provision is effective and underpinned by the school’s values.
• High-quality pastoral support promotes pupils’ well-being.
• The learning environment is calm and purposeful, and pupils are polite, friendly and motivated.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Routine checks of pupils’ understanding are not carried out consistently during lessons.
• Teaching is not always adapted in response to pupils’ needs so that everyone keeps up with learning.
• Some pupils do not build essential knowledge securely and find it difficult to remember their learning.
• Provision for pupils with SEND is not consistently matched precisely to their needs and challenges.
• Some tasks do not enable pupils with SEND to learn the curriculum effectively, so some do not secure key ideas or achieve as well 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 Puddletown Church of England First School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.6% 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, 2.2% of pupils at Puddletown Church of England 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 Puddletown Church of England First School had 20.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.1% 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, 15.7% of pupils at Puddletown Church of England First School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% 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 Puddletown Church of England First School received £6,599 and spent £6,268 for each of its 135 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £302,000 (£2,236 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

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

What is Puddletown Church of England First School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Puddletown Church of England First School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Puddletown Church of England First School last inspected by Ofsted?

Puddletown Church of England First School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Puddletown Church of England First School have?

Puddletown Church of England First School has 134 pupils on roll.

What age range does Puddletown Church of England First School cover?

Puddletown Church of England First School for pupils aged 4 to 9.

Where is Puddletown Church of England First School?

Puddletown Church of England First School is at Dorchester Road, Puddletown, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 8FZ.