Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School

Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School is a larger-than-average primary in the Sherborne Area Schools' Trust, serving an area of above-average deprivation and including a small bespoke provision for pupils with education, health and care plans. Inspectors found a strong safeguarding culture and effective leadership that has made difficult decisions and brought about positive change over time. Inclusion is a notable strength: leaders identify barriers quickly, work with external professionals, and use additional funding increasingly well to support disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Personal development is also a strength, with an ambitious, well-sequenced programme covering British values, health, relationships and online safety, supported by extensive pastoral care and enrichment.

Strengths

• Strong safeguarding culture where pupils feel safe and concerns are managed well
• Leaders quickly identify barriers and secure timely support for pupils with SEND
• Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is increasingly effective
• Leadership has made difficult decisions that have driven positive change
• High-quality pastoral support helps pupils be ready to learn
• Comprehensive professional development is valued by staff and improving teaching
• The trust supports staff workload and wellbeing effectively
• Governors fulfil safeguarding duties and oversee SEND provision particularly well
• Personal development curriculum is ambitious, well sequenced and effectively implemented
• Pupils learn about British values, equalities and democracy through initiatives like pupil parliament
• Pastoral and nurture support, including for young carers, meets emotional needs
• RSE curriculum covers puberty, consent and up-to-date online safety including AI
• Pupils behave well at social times and show respect for one another
• Reading and phonics teaching is effective, helping more pupils learn to read successfully
• Attendance oversight has strengthened and suspensions have decreased markedly
• Wide range of enrichment opportunities, including science workshops, residentials and sports

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils have historically been poorly prepared for secondary school
• Published outcomes in mathematics and writing are significantly below national averages
• Disadvantaged pupils' attainment and progress gap is large, especially in mathematics
• Pupils have gaps in basic skills such as spelling and multiplication tables
• Curriculum implementation is uneven across some subjects and classes
• Some staff lack expert subject knowledge and do not use assessment astutely
• Some teaching does not deepen pupils' understanding of complex content
• Resources and activity choices are sometimes not well thought through, including for bespoke pathways
• Early years curriculum implementation is weak and some learning time lacks purpose
• Staff-child interactions do not consistently support language development across all areas of learning
• Early years staff do not adapt teaching based on assessment of children's starting points
• Governors lack stringent oversight of the early years
• Persistent absence remains above national averages and is reducing in only some year groups
• In-class behaviour expectations are not consistently high, leading to off-task behaviour
• When teaching is not matched to needs, pupils wait too long for help

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 Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.5% 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, 2.4% of pupils at Shaftesbury Church of England 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 Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School had 20.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.5% 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 Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 2021–22 Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School received £5,941 and spent £6,143 for each of its 345 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £173,000 (£502 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of Sherborne Area Schools' Trust, income was £6,237 and spending £6,314 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 Shaftesbury · Dorset local authority: places and applications

Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School is part of Sherborne Area Schools' Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Shaftesbury School Shaftesbury
• Motcombe CofE Primary School Shaftesbury
• St Mary the Virgin Church of England Primary School Gillingham
• St Andrew's Church of England Primary School Shaftesbury
• St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, Child Okeford Blandford Forum
• Sturminster Newton High School Sturminster Newton
• Shillingstone Church of England Primary School Blandford Forum
• King Arthur's School Wincanton
• Charlton Horethorne Church of England Primary School Sherborne
• Sherborne Primary School Sherborne

What is Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School have?

Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School has 333 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School cover?

Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 44% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School?

Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School is at Wincombe Lane, Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 8PZ.