Burston Community Primary School

Burston Community Primary School is a very small, caring school of about 25 pupils, part of the Sapientia Education Trust. Inspectors found it performs strongly in attendance and behaviour, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met, pupils feel safe and attend well, and leaders have built a calm, values-led culture with high expectations and strong support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. Early years children get off to a positive start. Curriculum and teaching, achievement, and early years are at the expected standard. Pupils make steady progress from their starting points, but published data is not reliable because of the tiny cohorts. Leaders have identified some inconsistencies: pupils do not always apply consistent standards of English across subjects, and staff do not always spot errors in written work, including spelling. In some subjects, teaching approaches are not always the best match for the intended curriculum, which can occasionally limit depth of subject knowledge. Overall, this is a strong school with effective leadership, positive relationships and a clear improvement focus. The next steps are to refine teaching approaches and resources so pupils build deeper subject knowledge, and to ensure written errors are identified and addressed swiftly and consistently.

Strengths

• Leaders analyse attendance data effectively and have secured rapid improvements, with no persistent absence this year.
• Pupils have strong self-discipline and consistently positive attitudes in lessons.
• The school has a calm, focused and welcoming learning environment.
• Pupils feel safe, trust staff and say that bullying does not occur.
• Leaders and staff know each pupil’s needs in detail and provide timely, well-matched support.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from carefully targeted funding that removes barriers to learning.
• Pupils with SEND receive effective support and develop confidence and independence.
• Governance is effective, with trustees providing appropriate support and challenge.
• Leaders prioritise staff wellbeing and manage change and workload effectively.
• Parents express high levels of trust in the school and would recommend it.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is strategic and highly effective.
• Pupils have a secure understanding of diversity and do not tolerate discrimination.
• Relationships and health education help pupils keep themselves healthy, happy and safe.
• Pupils develop a secure understanding of fundamental British values and citizenship.
• Early years children make a positive start and are well prepared for key stage 1.
• Staff teach phonics well and build children’s communication and language skills.
• Pupils make steady progress from their starting points across the curriculum.
• Leaders have designed a cohesive curriculum that meets the needs of mixed-age classes.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not always apply consistent standards of English across subjects.
• Staff do not consistently identify errors in pupils' written work, including spelling, so errors sometimes go unaddressed.
• In some subjects, teachers do not choose the most appropriate teaching approaches, occasionally limiting the depth of pupils' subject knowledge.

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 Burston Community Primary School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.1% 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, 4.0% of pupils at Burston Community Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Burston Community Primary School had 10.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 39.3% 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, 22.2% of pupils at Burston Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.7% 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 Burston Community Primary School received £18,983 and spent £18,126 for each of its 25 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £12,000 (£499 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of Sapientia Education Trust, income was £8,533 and spending £8,510 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 Diss · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Burston Community Primary School is part of Sapientia Education Trust, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• Tivetshall Community Primary School Norwich
• Old Buckenham High School Attleborough
• Old Buckenham Primary School Attleborough
• Stradbroke High School Eye
• Attleborough Primary School Attleborough
• Rosecroft Primary School Attleborough
• Attleborough Academy Attleborough
• Wymondham College Wymondham
• Wymondham College Prep School Wymondham
• Great Hockham Primary School and Nursery Thetford

What is Burston Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Burston Community Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Burston Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Burston Community Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Burston Community Primary School have?

Burston Community Primary School has 27 pupils on roll.

What age range does Burston Community Primary School cover?

Burston Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

Where is Burston Community Primary School?

Burston Community Primary School is at Crown Green, Burston, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 5TZ.