Elm Hall Primary School

Elm Hall Primary School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating in most categories and 'Outstanding' in personal development and early years provision. The school has a supportive atmosphere where pupils thrive, enjoy their learning, and are encouraged to take on various roles, which fosters confidence and independence. The school is part of the Attain Academy Partnership and has not been inspected before under the current framework, following a significant gap since the last inspection in 2020 due to the pandemic. This context may have influenced the recent educational progress and evaluations.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe at school.
• The quality of education is strong, particularly in reading and early years.
• Pupils with SEND receive excellent support.
• Staff and pupils build strong relationships.
• The school promotes personal development through enriching activities.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, teachers do not check pupils' understanding before introducing new material.

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 Elm Hall Primary School attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.6% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Elm Hall 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 Elm Hall Primary School had 21.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.3% 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, 19.3% of pupils at Elm Hall Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.1% 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 Elm Hall Primary School received £6,747 and spent £6,842 for each of its 213 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £100,000 (£468 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Attain Academy Partnership, income was £6,470 and spending £6,381 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 Witham · Essex local authority: places and applications

Elm Hall Primary School is part of Attain Academy Partnership, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Cressing Primary School Braintree
• Bocking Primary School Braintree
• Rayne Primary and Nursery School Braintree
• Gosfield Community Primary School Halstead
• Newlands Spring Primary and Nursery School Chelmsford
• de Vere Primary School Halstead

What is Elm Hall Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Elm Hall Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2024.

When was Elm Hall Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Elm Hall Primary School was last inspected in March 2024.

How many pupils does Elm Hall Primary School have?

Elm Hall Primary School has 228 pupils on roll.

What age range does Elm Hall Primary School cover?

Elm Hall Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Elm Hall Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 48% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Elm Hall Primary School?

Elm Hall Primary School is at Conrad Road, Witham, Essex, CM8 2SD.