St Stephen's CofE First School

St Stephen’s CofE First School is performing well overall, with a consistent rating of 'Good' across multiple domains including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The school is recognized for its inclusivity, ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well in a supportive and caring environment. It is the school's first inspection under section 5, post its establishment as an academy in 2019, and it has effectively embraced the trust context to enhance educational outcomes.

Strengths

• High expectations for achievement for all pupils.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND leading to good outcomes.
• Enriched curriculum promoting engagement in learning.
• Strong community spirit where pupils feel safe and supported.
• Early years provision that fosters confident learners.
• Well-structured phonics program leading to fluent reading.
• Positive relationships between staff, pupils, and families.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent application of writing expectations across subjects, leading to errors not being addressed.

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 Stephen's CofE First School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.8% 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, 0.6% of pupils at St Stephen's CofE First 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 Stephen's CofE First School had 21.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.5% 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, 19.3% of pupils at St Stephen's CofE First School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% 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 Stephen's CofE First School received £7,183 and spent £7,256 for each of its 158 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £40,000 (£255 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Central Region Schools Trust, income was £7,890 and spending £7,931 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 Redditch · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

St Stephen's CofE First School is part of Central Region Schools Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Oak Hill First School Redditch
• Abbeywood First School Redditch
• Church Hill Middle School Redditch
• Arrow Valley First School Redditch
• Ipsley CofE Middle School Redditch
• Arrow Vale High School Redditch
• Matchborough First School Academy Redditch
• Waseley Hills High School Birmingham
• Holyhead School Birmingham
• Sutton Park Primary School Kidderminster

What is St Stephen's CofE First School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Stephen's CofE First School is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was St Stephen's CofE First School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Stephen's CofE First School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does St Stephen's CofE First School have?

St Stephen's CofE First School has 171 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Stephen's CofE First School cover?

St Stephen's CofE First School for pupils aged 3 to 9.

Where is St Stephen's CofE First School?

St Stephen's CofE First School is at Mabey Avenue, Colts Lane, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 8HW.