Nythe Primary School

Nythe Primary School is a happy, caring and ambitious school that is improving after a period of leadership and staffing instability. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision are all strong, and safeguarding is effective. Pupils benefit from a calm and orderly environment, improved lunchtimes, a wide range of clubs and leadership roles, and a curriculum enriched by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The school has also strengthened reading, early years communication and language, support for pupils with SEND, and attendance. The main area requiring improvement is the quality of education. Recent changes to teaching and the curriculum have not yet had enough time to fully affect some pupils’ learning. Some staff lack the subject expertise to teach the curriculum with the rigour the school intends, and assessment checks are sometimes not precise enough to identify and close gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Expectations of written work are rising, but handwriting, spelling and punctuation errors are not routinely addressed, which hampers some pupils’ writing. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since becoming an academy. The current principal took up the substantive post in May 2024, and the vice-principal and SEND coordinator started in September 2024. Staff are positive about the changes, and trust leaders and the local academy committee understand the school’s priorities and provide rigorous support and challenge.

Strengths

• Happy, caring school with high ambition and improving pupils’ achievement.
• Pupils respond well to increased behaviour expectations and uphold the school’s SOAR values.
• Staff act quickly and effectively on concerns, including bullying.
• Lunchtime experiences have been transformed, with pupils playing harmoniously together.
• Pupils benefit from rich extracurricular opportunities and leadership roles.
• Early years provision is strong, with a sharp focus on communication and language.
• Reading is a priority, with high-quality phonics training and targeted catch-up support.
• The curriculum has been strengthened, and pupils revisit prior learning to help them remember.
• Support for pupils with SEND has improved significantly.
• Attendance is improving and is now broadly in line with the national average.
• Personal development is enriched through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Staff welcome improvements and value how leaders consider their workload.
• Trust leaders and the local academy committee provide effective support and challenge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement.
• Some staff lack the subject expertise needed to teach the curriculum with the intended rigour.
• Assessment checks are sometimes not precise enough to identify and close gaps in pupils’ knowledge.
• Some staff do not have high enough expectations of pupils’ written work.
• Handwriting, spelling and punctuation errors are not routinely picked up, affecting some pupils’ writing.
• Improvements to curriculum implementation are not fully embedded, leaving pockets of variability.
• Recent changes have not had enough time to fully impact some pupils’ learning.
• Some pupils have gaps in learning and do not have a secure understanding of key concepts.

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 Nythe Primary School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.8% 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, 2.3% of pupils at Nythe 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 Nythe Primary School had 20.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 53.8% 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, 16.5% of pupils at Nythe Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.5% 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 Nythe Primary School received £7,246 and spent £7,196 for each of its 174 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £88,000 (£506 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of Excalibur Academies Trust, income was £7,945 and spending £8,027 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.

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Swindon · Swindon local authority: places and applications

Nythe Primary School is part of Excalibur Academies Trust, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Liden Academy Swindon
• Ogbourne CofE Primary School Marlborough
• Lambourn CofE Primary School Hungerford
• St John's Marlborough Marlborough
• St Katharine's CofE Primary School Marlborough
• Oare Church of England Primary School Marlborough
• Great Bedwyn Church of England School Marlborough
• John O'Gaunt School Hungerford
• Burbage Primary School Marlborough
• Easton Royal Academy Pewsey

What is Nythe Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Nythe Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Nythe Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Nythe Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Nythe Primary School have?

Nythe Primary School has 164 pupils on roll.

What age range does Nythe Primary School cover?

Nythe Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Nythe Primary School?

Nythe Primary School is at Nyland Road, Nythe, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 3RR.