St Edward's CofE Primary School

St Edward's CofE Primary School is a very small Church of England primary in Dorrington, Shropshire, and part of the Diocese of Hereford Multi-Academy Trust. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are happy, safe and well behaved in a kind, caring environment at the heart of the local community. Recent leaders have quickly established high expectations, and most areas of provision—attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development—are performing as expected. Early years is a particular strength, with well-planned phonics and a curriculum that prepares children well for the next stage.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Pupils behave well, follow school rules and routines, and feel safe and happy.
• The school provides a kind, caring and calm environment with positive staff-pupil relationships.
• Older pupils act as positive role models for younger children, including at lunchtimes and playtimes.
• Early years provision is well planned and sequenced, with effective phonics and strong staff subject knowledge.
• Inclusion is well embedded, with early and accurate identification of SEND, disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.
• Leadership and governance are knowledgeable, strategic and supportive, with trustees providing appropriate challenge.
• The personal development offer is broad, including extracurricular clubs, trips, community involvement and pastoral support.
• Attendance support is strategic and pastoral approaches help many pupils attend regularly.
• Vulnerable pupils generally make suitable progress and gaps in their knowledge are often addressed effectively.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement needs attention, with some pupils not achieving well enough from their starting points.
• Historic gaps in pupils' basic knowledge and skills are not closing quickly enough.
• The quality of pupils' work is variable across subjects and cohorts.
• In some subjects, including reading, attainment and progress are not in line with national averages.
• Curriculum and teaching need attention, with some aspects of the curriculum requiring further development.
• Teaching is not consistently effective across the curriculum, particularly for pupils with gaps in knowledge.
• Assessment practice is inconsistent, so some misconceptions are not identified and addressed quickly enough.
• Persistent absence remains above the national average.

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 Edward's CofE Primary School attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.4% 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 St Edward's CofE 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 Edward's CofE Primary School had 10.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 34.5% 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, 38.7% of pupils at St Edward's CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 16.1% 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 St Edward's CofE Primary School received £12,792 and spent £13,120 for each of its 34 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £144,000 (£4,238 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of Diocese of Hereford Multi Academy Trust, income was £8,025 and spending £7,825 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 Shrewsbury · Shropshire local authority: places and applications

St Edward's CofE Primary School is part of Diocese of Hereford Multi Academy Trust, which runs 21 schools. The nearest others:

• Condover CofE Primary School Shrewsbury
• Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CofE Primary Academy Telford
• Bishops Castle Primary School Bishops Castle
• Lydbury North Church of England Primary School
• Morville CofE (Controlled) Primary School Bridgnorth
• Onny CofE (A) Primary School Craven Arms
• Bitterley CofE Primary School (Aided) Ludlow
• Ludlow Church of England School Ludlow
• Ludlow Primary School Ludlow
• St George's CofE Academy, Clun Craven Arms

What is St Edward's CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Edward's CofE Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was St Edward's CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Edward's CofE Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does St Edward's CofE Primary School have?

St Edward's CofE Primary School has 31 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Edward's CofE Primary School cover?

St Edward's CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Edward's CofE Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 100% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Edward's CofE Primary School?

St Edward's CofE Primary School is at Church Road, Dorrington, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY5 7JL.