Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School

Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School is a small Church of England primary within the Academies for Character and Excellence trust. Pupils are safe, well cared for and proud of their school, and the school has a strong pastoral and personal development offer. Attendance is high, behaviour is calm and orderly, and pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, trips and responsibilities. The school is inclusive, and published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 and in phonics and multiplication checks are above national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. However, the quality of education is not consistently strong. Teaching varies across the school, assessment is not used well enough to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge, and basic skills such as spelling, grammar and handwriting are not secured consistently. In mathematics and phonics, activities and correction are sometimes not precise enough, and misconceptions in the wider curriculum are not always picked up promptly. As a result, current pupils do not always build securely on prior learning or progress as well as they could. Leadership and governance also need to improve. Leaders at school and trust level do not have an accurate enough view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, which means teaching weaknesses are not addressed swiftly and governance does not provide sufficient challenge. The trust and governors are advised to strengthen support and challenge so that school leaders identify the right priorities, particularly for closing gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

Strengths

• Pastoral support and personal development are a high priority and pupils are well cared for.
• Pupils are proud of their school and contribute through groups such as sustainability champions.
• Pupils take part in meaningful community activities, including running a community café.
• Pupils with SEND have full access to the school’s personal development and wellbeing provision.
• Pupils are reflective about beliefs and respectful when discussing religions and moral dilemmas.
• Pupils understand fundamental British values and talk maturely about democracy and the rule of law.
• The health and relationships programme helps pupils understand healthy friendships and keep themselves safe.
• Attendance is high and improving, with swift action and personalised support when it declines.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, disruption is rare, and relationships between staff and pupils are positive.
• The early years curriculum is thoughtfully designed and children settle well and play cooperatively.
• Reading is an important part of the school day and children who need extra support are identified quickly.
• The school is inclusive, identifies SEND promptly and works closely with external professionals.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively and disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well.
• Published outcomes are above national averages in key stage 2, phonics and multiplication tables.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with subjects carefully sequenced to build knowledge over time.
• Staff are supportive of leaders, and leaders are considerate of staff workload and wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement needs attention because pupils’ work in lessons does not consistently reflect published outcomes.
• A significant proportion of pupils do not secure age-appropriate spelling, grammar and handwriting.
• The school does not consistently identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge, including for SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils sometimes struggle to recall prior learning in different curriculum subjects.
• Curriculum and teaching need attention because teaching quality is inconsistent across the school.
• Mathematics activities are not consistently well matched to pupils’ stage of learning, especially in mixed-age classes.
• Phonics teaching sometimes lacks precision and staff do not always correct errors such as pronunciation.
• Teachers do not use checks on what pupils know and remember effectively to inform next steps.
• Pupils who begin to fall behind are not always addressed promptly, so gaps in knowledge persist and grow.
• Expectations for handwriting are not consistently high, and incorrect spellings are often not addressed.
• Pupils develop misconceptions in wider-curriculum subjects such as history and geography that are not corrected promptly.
• Leadership and governance need attention because leaders and trust do not have an accurate understanding of strengths and areas for development.
• Weaknesses in teaching are not addressed swiftly, so current pupils do not achieve as well as they could.
• Governance has an overly positive understanding of the school and does not provide sufficient challenge.
• School leaders need more effective support and challenge to identify priorities that close gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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 Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School attended 95.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.6% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Berry Pomeroy Parochial 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 Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School had 22.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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, 5.7% of pupils at Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.6% 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 Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School received £8,280 and spent £8,036 for each of its 85 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £50,000 (£590 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of The Academies for Character and Excellence, income was £6,628 and spending £6,807 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 Totnes · Devon local authority: places and applications

Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School is part of The Academies for Character and Excellence, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Totnes St John's Church of England Primary School Totnes
• Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School Paignton
• Galmpton Church of England Primary School Brixham
• Torre Church of England Academy Torquay
• Brixham Church of England Primary School Brixham
• Shaldon Primary School Teignmouth
• Trinity CofE Primary and Nursery School Exeter
• St Gabriel's CofE Primary School Exeter
• Newtown Primary School Exeter
• Stockland Church of England Primary Academy Honiton

What is Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School have?

Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School has 87 pupils on roll.

What age range does Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School cover?

Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 91% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School?

Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School is at Berry Pomeroy, Berry Pomeroy Primary Schol, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6LH.