St Peter's CofE Primary School

St Peter's CofE Primary School is a larger-than-average Church of England primary school within the Empower Trust. Inspectors found a welcoming school where pupils feel safe and valued, behaviour is generally good, and attendance is in line with national averages. Early years provision is a particular strength, with children making a strong start, and pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment activities that support their personal development. Safeguarding standards are met. However, the school faces significant challenges. A notable minority of pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged or have SEND, develop gaps in their learning and do not achieve as well as they could. Reading and writing are areas of concern: some pupils do not secure basic phonics or writing skills quickly enough, and the curriculum and teaching are not consistently adapted to meet individual needs. The school has experienced recent turbulence in senior leadership, and while trust leaders have taken appropriate action, these strategies are too new to have had a measurable impact. Leaders are aware of the weaknesses and have begun to address them, but more work is needed to improve achievement for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, to strengthen the reading and writing curriculum, and to ensure that pupil premium funding is used effectively. Staff are positive about workload management, and the school works well with external partners. The next steps focus on consistent adaptation of teaching, high-quality staff training, and deepening pupils' understanding of cultures beyond their own.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, valued and well cared for in a welcoming school environment.
• Pupils generally behave well, are kind, polite and respectful to others.
• Bullying is not tolerated and any incidents are dealt with effectively.
• Attendance is broadly in line with national averages, with improving attendance for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Early years provision is nurturing and safe, with children making appropriate progress from their starting points.
• Early years staff skilfully develop children's language, particularly for disadvantaged children and those at earlier stages of language development.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment activities, including residential visits, careers activities, music tuition and pupil leadership roles.
• Pupils learn about democracy, citizenship, tolerance and respect through activities like school council and visits to the Houses of Parliament.
• The school's work as a 'School of Sanctuary' reflects a commitment to a welcoming environment.
• Support for pupils' social and emotional needs is well developed, and pupils know how to keep themselves healthy and safe.
• The school works collaboratively and positively with a range of external partners to benefit pupils.
• Staff are positive about how leaders help them manage their workload.

Areas for Improvement

• A significant minority of pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged or have SEND, develop gaps in their knowledge and underachieve.
• Some pupils do not secure basic phonics knowledge quickly enough, and reading books sometimes contain sounds pupils do not know well.
• Writing is not taught effectively enough; some pupils do not master basic skills, including pencil grip, handwriting and sentence structure.
• The curriculum and teaching are not consistently adapted to meet the needs of pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Recent actions to improve teaching and curriculum have not yet had sufficient impact.
• Leaders do not fully evaluate the use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils, and their achievement remains below national averages.
• Recent leadership turbulence has left staff unclear about the school's main priorities and strategic direction.
• Pupils do not gain a deep enough understanding of cultures and traditions beyond their own.
• The pupil premium strategy is not planned, implemented and evaluated rigorously enough to improve disadvantaged pupils' achievement.
• Professional development has not yet translated into teachers consistently meeting the needs of vulnerable pupils.

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 Peter's CofE Primary School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.8% 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, 0.7% of pupils at St Peter'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 Peter's CofE Primary School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.4% 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, 15.3% of pupils at St Peter's CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% 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 2024–25 St Peter's CofE Primary School received £6,426 and spent £6,455 for each of its 412 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £282,000 (£685 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Empower Trust, income was £7,163 and spending £6,944 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 Peter's CofE Primary School is part of Empower Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• St Marys CofE Primary School Shrewsbury
• Greenacres Primary School Shrewsbury
• Wilfred Owen Primary School Shrewsbury
• Market Drayton Junior School Market Drayton
• Market Drayton Infant & Nursery School Market Drayton
• Woodfield Infant School & Nursery Shrewsbury
• St George's Junior School Shrewsbury

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

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

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

St Peter's CofE Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

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

St Peter's CofE Primary School has 404 pupils on roll.

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

St Peter's CofE Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Peter's CofE Primary School?

St Peter's CofE Primary School is at Shrubbery Gardens, Wem, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 5BX.