Leadenham Church of England Academy

Leadenham Church of England Academy is a small Church of England primary in the Infinity Academies Trust, inspected for the first time as an academy. Pupils are happy, feel safe and enjoy school, and personal development is a clear strength: pupils learn about kindness, health, safety and responsibility through trips, clubs and roles such as sports ambassadors and school councillors. Safeguarding is effective, and attendance support is helping more pupils attend regularly. However, pupils are not yet achieving as well as they should. The curriculum is broad and ambitious on paper, but teaching and implementation are too variable: staff do not consistently focus on the most important knowledge, help pupils recall prior learning or address gaps. Phonics and reading are priorities, but some staff lack training and pupils who fall behind do not get timely support. Pupils with SEND do not have clear targets, so teaching is not adapted precisely enough and they fall behind. Behaviour expectations are not applied consistently, and poor behaviour is not always addressed effectively, which can disrupt learning. Leadership and management have also been too slow to tackle weaknesses, and frequent leadership and staff changes have slowed progress. Leadership has now settled, initial actions are underway and trust support is beginning to drive improvement, but the impact is not yet secure.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe and enjoy attending school.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with content logically organised to build knowledge over time.
• Personal development is strong, with trips, clubs and pupil roles building character and confidence.
• Pupils learn kindness, respect, resilience and responsibility.
• Attendance monitoring and support have improved regular attendance.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff feel well supported and value opportunities to develop their practice.
• Recent curriculum reviews and trust support are beginning to improve implementation in some subjects.
• Structured playtime activities and new end-of-play routines are improving relationships and calm returns to class.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching does not consistently focus on the most important knowledge or help pupils recall prior learning.
• Pupils are not reaching the standards they should, and gaps in prior learning remain.
• Some staff lack the expertise to teach phonics and reading well.
• Pupils who fall behind in reading do not get the right support quickly enough.
• Targets for pupils with SEND are not clear enough, so teaching is not adapted precisely and these pupils fall behind.
• Behaviour expectations are inconsistent, and staff do not always address poor behaviour effectively.
• Inconsistent responses to poor behaviour mean learning is sometimes disrupted.
• Leaders and the trust have not tackled weaknesses swiftly enough.
• Frequent leadership and staff changes have slowed improvement.
• Recent improvements are not yet fully embedded across the school.

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 Leadenham Church of England Academy attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.5% 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 Leadenham Church of England 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 Leadenham Church of England Academy had 8.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% 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, 16.7% of pupils at Leadenham Church of England Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 Leadenham Church of England Academy received £16,784 and spent £14,558 for each of its 30 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £27,000 (£896 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Infinity Academies Trust, income was £7,320 and spending £7,049 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 Lincoln · Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

Leadenham Church of England Academy is part of Infinity Academies Trust, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Coleby Church of England Primary Academy Lincoln
• Long Bennington Church of England Academy Newark
• The Little Gonerby Church of England Primary Academy, Grantham Grantham
• The Lincoln St Peter-In-Eastgate Church of England Infants Academy Lincoln
• Pollyplatt Primary Academy Lincoln
• Colsterworth Church of England Primary School Grantham
• Gipsey Bridge Academy Boston
• Bourne Abbey Church of England Primary Academy Bourne
• Bourne Elsea Park Church of England Primary Academy Bourne
• Wyberton Primary Academy Boston

What is Leadenham Church of England Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Leadenham Church of England Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Leadenham Church of England Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Leadenham Church of England Academy was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Leadenham Church of England Academy have?

Leadenham Church of England Academy has 24 pupils on roll.

What age range does Leadenham Church of England Academy cover?

Leadenham Church of England Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Leadenham Church of England Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Leadenham Church of England Academy?

Leadenham Church of England Academy is at Main Road, Leadenham, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN5 0QB.