Richard de Clare Community Academy

Richard de Clare Community Academy is an inclusive primary school that inspectors found to be meeting expected standards across its provision, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils typically join with very low language and communication skills, and although published outcomes remain below national averages, especially at key stage 2, inspectors found that many pupils make accelerated progress from their starting points. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities generally make secure progress, and gaps are closing over time. The school's strengths include a caring and inclusive culture, calm and orderly behaviour, effective early years provision, strong phonics teaching, and well-planned personal development and pastoral support. Attendance is improving, persistent absence is falling, and leaders work closely with families and external services. The school is part of Bridge Academy Trust and benefits from constructive trust and governance support. Areas for further development include embedding the whole-school communication strategy so pupils develop secure spoken-language and oracy skills, and ensuring teaching approaches are consistently applied across the school. Attendance remains above national averages, and outcomes in writing, mathematics and combined reading, writing and mathematics remain below national, with a notable disadvantage gap, although leaders are taking action.

Strengths

• Inclusive and caring school culture where pupils feel safe, welcomed and valued
• Strong safeguarding culture with concerns actively identified, acted upon and managed
• Pupils behave well, follow routines and show positive attitudes to learning
• Effective early years provision helps children settle quickly and make good progress
• Clear, well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum adapted to pupils' needs
• Effective phonics teaching and targeted support help most pupils become confident readers
• Detailed tracking and tailored support for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• Strong personal development programme covering relationships, health, safety and British values
• Effective pastoral care and support for pupils with emotional or trust-related needs
• Leaders and governors work constructively with the trust and understand the school community deeply
• Attendance is improving and persistent absence is falling
• Pupils benefit from wider opportunities, pupil leadership roles and community involvement

Areas for Improvement

• Published outcomes remain below national averages, particularly at key stage 2 and in writing and mathematics
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes are below national and the disadvantage gap remains wide
• Attendance and persistent absence remain above national averages, though improving
• Teaching is not fully consistent across the school
• Whole-school communication and oracy strategies are not yet fully embedded
• Some adult-led discussion limits pupils' opportunities to practise spoken language through partner talk
• Some opportunities to build children's speaking skills and correct sentence structures are missed in the early years
• Staff require further training to ensure high-quality teaching is consistent across the school

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 Richard de Clare Community Academy attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.2% 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, 1.6% of pupils at Richard de Clare Community Academy 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 Richard de Clare Community Academy had 22.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.6% 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, 24.6% of pupils at Richard de Clare Community Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 Richard de Clare Community Academy received £6,966 and spent £6,845 for each of its 352 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £394,000 (£1,121 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Bridge Academy Trust, income was £7,606 and spending £7,532 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 Halstead · Essex local authority: places and applications

Richard de Clare Community Academy is part of Bridge Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• The Ramsey Academy, Halstead Halstead
• Notley High School and Sixth Form Braintree
• Acorn Infant Academy Witham
• Oaklands Infant School Chelmsford
• Moulsham High School Chelmsford
• Mildmay Primary School Chelmsford
• High Ongar Primary School Ongar
• The Ongar Academy Ongar
• Ongar Primary School Ongar
• Chipping Ongar Primary School Ongar

What is Richard de Clare Community Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Richard de Clare Community Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Richard de Clare Community Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Richard de Clare Community Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Richard de Clare Community Academy have?

Richard de Clare Community Academy has 370 pupils on roll.

What age range does Richard de Clare Community Academy cover?

Richard de Clare Community Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Richard de Clare Community Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 48% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Richard de Clare Community Academy?

Richard de Clare Community Academy is at Parsonage Street, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2JT.