Spaldwick Primary School

Spaldwick Primary School is a happy, vibrant and welcoming small primary school where pupils are proud of their community and speak confidently about their learning. Parents are positive about the education on offer, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and pupils typically achieve well. Behaviour is good, classrooms are calm, pupils feel safe and most attend regularly. The school’s ambitious curriculum is carefully designed and sequenced, with strong reading and phonics provision in the early years and effective support for pupils with SEND. Pupils benefit from a wide range of personal development opportunities, including leadership roles, clubs, trips and well-being initiatives. Leadership, including the school’s work with the ACES Academies Trust and governors, has managed change effectively and safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first graded section 5 inspection. Inspectors identified two main areas for improvement: the school is still evaluating curriculum implementation in a few subjects, where activities are occasionally not well matched to pupils’ abilities, and some pupils’ spelling is inaccurate because gaps in applying phonics knowledge are not always picked up quickly enough.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, confident and proud of their school community.
• Parents are positive about the quality of education, including for pupils with SEND.
• Pupils typically achieve well and meet high expectations for behaviour and achievement.
• Classrooms are calm with little disruption to learning.
• Pupils feel safe and know a trusted adult will help them.
• Older pupils look out for younger peers and pupil leadership roles are valued.
• The curriculum is ambitious, carefully designed and logically sequenced.
• Pupils with SEND learn confidently alongside their peers with skilful support.
• Early reading and phonics are taught precisely, with effective targeted support.
• Changes to writing and spelling teaching are improving standards.
• Personal development is extensively supported through roles, clubs, trips and well-being initiatives.
• Leaders, governors and the trust manage change effectively and consider staff workload.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, the school is still evaluating curriculum implementation and activities are occasionally not well matched to pupils’ abilities.
• Some pupils’ gaps in applying phonics knowledge lead to inaccurate spelling, and these gaps are not always picked up quickly.
• Adults are not always equipped with the knowledge and skills to confidently support pupils who need extra help with spelling.

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 Spaldwick Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.8% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Spaldwick 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 Spaldwick Primary School had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.1% 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, 16.3% of pupils at Spaldwick Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.6% 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 Spaldwick Primary School received £8,458 and spent £9,319 for each of its 95 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £23,000 (£244 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of The Cam Academy Trust, income was £8,882 and spending £9,053 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 Huntingdon · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

Spaldwick Primary School is part of The Cam Academy Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Cromwell Academy Huntingdon
• Hinchingbrooke School Huntingdon
• Offord Primary School St Neots
• St Peter's School Huntingdon
• Godmanchester Community Academy Huntingdon
• Thongsley Fields Primary and Nursery School Huntingdon
• Hartford Junior School Huntingdon
• Hartford Infant and Preschool Huntingdon
• Godmanchester Bridge Academy Godmanchester
• Cambourne Village College Cambridge

What is Spaldwick Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Spaldwick Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Spaldwick Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Spaldwick Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Spaldwick Primary School have?

Spaldwick Primary School has 104 pupils on roll.

What age range does Spaldwick Primary School cover?

Spaldwick Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Spaldwick Primary School?

Spaldwick Primary School is at Royston Avenue, Spaldwick, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 0TH.