St Andrew's Church of England Primary School

St Andrew’s is a small Church of England primary academy within Sherborne Area Schools’ Trust, and this inspection found it performing well across education, behaviour, personal development, leadership and early years. The school has high expectations and an inclusive, welcoming culture; staff know pupils and families well, pupils feel safe and attend regularly, and behaviour is calm and orderly. Reading is a strong priority from Reception, and the broad curriculum is ambitious, with effective teaching in many areas. The main areas for development are in writing and in how consistently teachers check and build on prior knowledge. The new writing curriculum is beginning to improve outcomes and handwriting but is not yet fully embedded, and some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. In some wider-curriculum subjects, checks on what pupils know are not precise enough, learning can move on too quickly, and adaptations for pupils with SEND do not always secure the intended knowledge. Leaders and the trust know the school’s strengths and priorities and are taking prompt action.

Strengths

• High expectations and aspirations for all pupils
• Warm, welcoming and inclusive culture with strong community and parent relationships
• Broad and ambitious curriculum from Reception to Year 6
• Strong early reading provision with well-trained staff and effective catch-up support
• Calm and orderly behaviour supported by clear learning behaviours
• Pupils feel safe, attend regularly and learn how to stay safe
• Strong personal development, including health, equality and responsible citizenship
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Leaders and trust accurately identify priorities and act swiftly

Areas for Improvement

• Writing curriculum is less developed than other subjects, contributing to lower outcomes in writing and handwriting
• Some pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they could because teaching adaptations do not always secure intended knowledge
• In some subjects, pupils struggle to recall prior learning and learning sometimes moves on before they are ready
• Teachers do not routinely check knowledge with enough precision in some wider-curriculum subjects, leaving gaps unaddressed

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 St Andrew's Church of England Primary School attended 93.9% 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, 4.9% of pupils at St Andrew's 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 St Andrew's Church of England Primary School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 49.0% 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, 14.9% of pupils at St Andrew's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 2021–22 St Andrew's Church of England Primary School received £6,790 and spent £7,709 for each of its 83 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £123,000 (-£1,485 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

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

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

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Andrew's Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was St Andrew's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Andrew's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does St Andrew's Church of England Primary School have?

St Andrew's Church of England Primary School has 101 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Andrew's Church of England Primary School cover?

St Andrew's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

Where is St Andrew's Church of England Primary School?

St Andrew's Church of England Primary School is at West Street, Fontmell Magna, Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 0PF.