Heytesbury Church of England Primary School

Heytesbury Church of England Primary School is a small school of 32 pupils and part of the Acorn Education Trust. Following its June 2025 graded inspection, all key areas were judged good, an improvement on the previous requires improvement grade. Leaders and trust staff have created a culture of continuous improvement and high expectations, and pupils secure their knowledge well and are ready for the next stage of education. The school has a strong community feel, and pupils are happy, safe and attend well. Behaviour is calm and pupils are considerate towards each other. Pupils take pride in leadership roles, including planning assemblies and leading playtime games. The curriculum has been redesigned since the last inspection and is clearly sequenced to support pupils in mixed-age classes. Teachers check pupils' understanding and address misconceptions, pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported effectively, and reading and phonics are taught well. PSHE is well designed, pupils benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Trust leaders have an accurate view of the school and support staff well. The main area for improvement is that, in some subjects and on some occasions, the work set does not consistently challenge pupils who are already secure in their learning. As a result, these pupils do not deepen their knowledge as well as they could. The trust should support teachers to provide learning opportunities that enable pupils to produce the highest quality work they are capable of across all curriculum subjects.

Strengths

• Staff and trust leaders have created a culture of continuous improvement and high expectations.
• Pupils secure their knowledge well and are ready for their next stage of education.
• The school has a strong sense of community and pupils feel part of one family.
• Pupils feel happy and safe, enjoy school and attend well.
• Staff have high expectations of behaviour and the school is a calm place.
• Pupils are considerate, thoughtful and demonstrate respect and fairness.
• Pupils are proud of leadership roles such as planning assemblies and leading playtime games.
• The curriculum is clearly sequenced and supports pupils in mixed-age classes to build knowledge.
• Teachers are knowledgeable, model ideas clearly and address misconceptions.
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and support is well matched to their needs.
• The reading and phonics curriculum is effective and helps pupils build confidence and fluency.
• PSHE is well designed and helps pupils understand safety, relationships and community.
• Pupils benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities, clubs and events.
• Trust leaders have an accurate view of the school and provide effective support.
• Staff feel well supported with workload, well-being and professional development.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, work does not consistently provide enough challenge for pupils who are already secure, so they do not deepen their knowledge as well as they could.
• The trust should support teachers to provide learning opportunities that enable pupils to produce the highest quality work they are capable of across all curriculum subjects.

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 Heytesbury Church of England Primary School attended 97.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.9% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Heytesbury 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 Heytesbury Church of England Primary School had 10.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 47.4% 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, 18.8% of pupils at Heytesbury Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 Heytesbury Church of England Primary School received £11,841 and spent £11,368 for each of its 40 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £42,000 (£1,038 per pupil).

Across all 21 schools of Acorn Education Trust, income was £8,177 and spending £8,032 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 Warminster · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

Heytesbury Church of England Primary School is part of Acorn Education Trust, which runs 21 schools. The nearest others:

• Kingdown School Warminster
• St John's CofE School Warminster
• New Close Primary School Warminster
• The Avenue Primary School and Children's Centre Warminster
• Dilton Marsh CofE Primary School Westbury
• Chapmanslade Church of England Primary School Westbury
• West Ashton Church of England Primary School Trowbridge
• Dinton CofE Primary School Salisbury
• Keevil CofE Primary School Trowbridge
• Willowbrook Primary School Trowbridge

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

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

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

Heytesbury Church of England Primary School was last inspected in July 2025.

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

Heytesbury Church of England Primary School has 32 pupils on roll.

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

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

Where is Heytesbury Church of England Primary School?

Heytesbury Church of England Primary School is at Greenlands, Heytesbury, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 0EA.