St Swithun's Church of England Primary Academy

Type Primary / Academy converter
Age Range 3-11
Religion Church of England
Address Grove Street
Retford
Nottinghamshire
DN22 6LD
Phone 01777702043
Reference Number 145447

St Swithun's Church of England Primary Academy is currently under significant improvement as inspectors found it is performing notably below expected standards. While there have been some positive changes in attendance, with systems being put in place to support families, academic achievement across the curriculum is still weak. Pupils are not achieving the knowledge and skills necessary for their next stages of education, particularly in reading, writing, and mathematics, with national test outcomes significantly below average. Although the school is in a phase of transition with new leadership and support from the trust, key areas need urgent enhancement to provide a suitable educational environment for all students.

General Makeup

Number of pupils 90
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 50%
Girls: 50%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 55%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 11.1%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 15
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 10

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 10 5 15
2 5 9 14
3 7 4 11
4 3 5 8
5 6 6 12
6 5 8 13

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 82.2%
White, Other 7.8%
White & Black (African) 4.4%
Chinese 2.2%
Mixed, Other 2.2%
African 1.1%

Overall Ofsted Rating Urgent improvement
 >  Leadership & Governance Needs attention
 >  Personal Development & Wellbeing Needs attention
 >  Achievement Urgent improvement
 >  Attendance & Behaviour Needs attention
 >  Curriculum & Teaching Needs attention
 >  Inclusion Needs attention
 >  Early Years Needs attention
Last Report Date 13 Jan 2026
Date Report
13 Jan 2026 School inspection
13 Sep 2022 School inspection
05 Apr 2018 Academy conversion letter
12 Mar 2015 Full inspection:
Previously as St Swithun's CofE Primary School
12 Mar 2015 Full inspection:
20 Jun 2013 Monitoring visit
20 Jun 2013 Monitoring visit
13 Mar 2013 Full inspection:
13 Mar 2013 Full inspection:
01 Feb 2011 Full inspection:
01 Feb 2011 Full inspection:
22 Jan 2008 Full inspection:
22 Jan 2008 Full inspection:
31 Mar 2003 Full inspection
31 Mar 2003 Full inspection

Strengths

  • The school has established an open culture of safeguarding where pupils feel safe and cared for.
  • Leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses in the school’s curriculum and are taking steps towards improvement.
  • Pupils enjoy a wide range of enrichment opportunities, contributing to their personal development and confidence.

Areas for Improvement

  • Pupil achievement across the curriculum is weak, with significant gaps in basic skills.
  • Inconsistency in the application of behaviour expectations affects student focus and learning.
  • The quality of support for pupils with additional needs varies greatly across the school.

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 17%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 8%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 104
Maths 100

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 2
Writing 0.1
Maths 2.4

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Sample

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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2025 Admissions

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 3 0
Third Preference 5 0
From another Local Authority 0 0

Previous Years

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Name Distance
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0.79 miles
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