Castlechurch Primary School

Castlechurch Primary School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across all key areas of inspection. The headteacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Goodyear, leads a strong educational environment where pupils enjoy learning and feel safe. The school promotes an ambitious curriculum and offers effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), contributing to positive outcomes for most students. The school is also proactive in engaging with the local community through various support activities.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy coming to school and value interesting lessons and trips.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious, and well-planned.
• Effective support is provided for pupils with SEND.
• Pupils feel safe and understand how to keep safe from bullying.
• Strong leadership and management foster a positive work environment for staff.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent implementation of the curriculum across different subjects.
• Variable quality of assessment practices, particularly in foundation subjects.
• Some pupils with SEND do not consistently receive the support needed to access learning.

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 Castlechurch Primary School attended 95.0% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Castlechurch 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 Castlechurch Primary School had 25.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.3% 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, 8.8% of pupils at Castlechurch Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.4% 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 Castlechurch Primary School received £7,072 and spent £6,857 for each of its 269 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £259,000 (£964 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Children First Learning Partnership, income was £7,227 and spending £7,251 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 Stafford · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Castlechurch Primary School is part of Children First Learning Partnership, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Springhead Primary School Stoke-On-Trent
• The Reginald Mitchell Primary School Stoke-On-Trent
• Knypersley First School Stoke-On-Trent
• Kingsfield First School Stoke-On-Trent
• Oxhey First School Stoke-On-Trent
• Marlfields Primary School Congleton

What is Castlechurch Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Castlechurch Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2023.

When was Castlechurch Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Castlechurch Primary School was last inspected in December 2023.

How many pupils does Castlechurch Primary School have?

Castlechurch Primary School has 285 pupils on roll.

What age range does Castlechurch Primary School cover?

Castlechurch Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 76% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Castlechurch Primary School?

Castlechurch Primary School is at Tennyson Road, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST17 9SY.