St Weonard's Academy

St Weonard's Academy is a small, inclusive school with a mainstream autism resource base, part of the Hereford Marches Federation of Academies. Inspectors found safeguarding standards met. The school performs securely overall: early years and personal development/wellbeing are strong, while most other areas are at the expected standard. Pupils behave well, feel safe and benefit from a well-structured personal development programme. Pastoral support and inclusion are particular strengths, with skilled support for pupils with SEND, including those in the resource base. Leaders have a clear understanding of the school's context and effective governance is in place. However, foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics are not yet consistently effective. Some pupils struggle with spelling, letter formation, presentation and applying phonics to unfamiliar words, which limits how well they communicate their knowledge across subjects. Attendance headline figures are affected by the very small cohort and flexi-schooling arrangements; when adjusted, attendance is in line with national figures and improving, but leaders should continue to monitor it closely. Leaders should also further develop opportunities for resource base pupils to integrate with mainstream classes.

Strengths

• Strong early years provision with a clear, ambitious vision and coherent curriculum.
• Purposeful continuous provision and high-quality interactions that extend children's thinking and language.
• Well-embedded phonics teaching in early years; children confidently apply sounds when reading and writing.
• Thoughtfully designed personal development programme covering social, moral, spiritual and cultural learning.
• Comprehensive, age-appropriate relationships, sex and health education.
• Pupils develop a secure understanding of fundamental British values.
• Pastoral support is a strength; staff know pupils well and respond quickly to concerns.
• Pupils feel safe, have trusted adults they can talk to, and behave well.
• Inclusive culture with resource base pupils fully included in wider activities.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND, including measurable targets and specialist advice.
• Skilled use of signs, symbols and communication boards for preverbal pupils.
• Effective governance with statutory duties fulfilled and appropriate challenge.
• Staff feel respected, supported and proud to work at the school.
• Leaders take staff workload and wellbeing seriously.
• Pupils value wider experiences such as residential visits, theatre trips, charity events and community links.
• Attendance is improving, and adjusted attendance is in line with national figures.
• Behaviour incidents are extremely rare, supported by a consistent restorative approach.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching of basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics is not yet consistently effective.
• Some pupils struggle with accurate spelling, letter formation and presentation.
• Some pupils lack confidence when applying phonics to decode unfamiliar words.
• Foundational skills weaknesses limit the overall quality of some pupils' work, including in foundation subjects.
• Attendance headline figures are significantly affected by the very small cohort and flexi-schooling arrangements.
• Leaders should continue monitoring attendance closely to sustain improvements over time.
• Leaders should ensure teaching of reading, writing and mathematics is consistently effective so pupils secure foundational writing skills.
• Opportunities for resource base pupils to integrate more with mainstream classes need further development.
• Curriculum implementation requires further refinement so all pupils build knowledge securely over time.

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 Weonard's Academy attended 83.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 65.7% 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, 6.7% of pupils at St Weonard's Academy 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 Weonard's Academy had 6.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 18.4% of pupils at St Weonard's Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 28.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 9 pupils.

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 Weonard's Academy received £14,584 and spent £13,888 for each of its 45 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £92,000 (£2,067 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of The Herefordshire Marches Federation of Academies, income was £7,183 and spending £7,178 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 Hereford · Herefordshire, County of local authority: places and applications

St Weonard's Academy is part of The Herefordshire Marches Federation of Academies, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• King's Caple Primary Academy Hereford
• Lord Scudamore Primary Academy Hereford
• Sutton Primary Academy Hereford

What is St Weonard's Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Weonard's Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was St Weonard's Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Weonard's Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does St Weonard's Academy have?

St Weonard's Academy has 38 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Weonard's Academy cover?

St Weonard's Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

Where is St Weonard's Academy?

St Weonard's Academy is at Mount Way, St Weonards, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR2 8NU.