Neroche Primary School

About Neroche Primary School

Neroche Primary School sits within the Somerset local authority, a county with 219 primary schools where only six currently hold an Outstanding Ofsted rating. In the most recent KS2 performance rankings, Neroche placed 23rd out of all Somerset primaries, comfortably inside the top 25% nationally. The three schools immediately above it in the local rankings are Combe St Nicholas Church of England VA Primary School, Kingfisher Primary School, and Preston CofE Primary School. Headteacher Rebecca Bendall leads a mixed, state-funded primary for children aged 2 to 11, with no religious character. The school has a nursery provision and currently accommodates 232 pupils against a capacity of 259, leaving some headroom. Its most recent graded inspection, in October 2024, awarded a Good rating for overall effectiveness, though inspectors noted that early years provision requires improvement. The previous inspection, back in 2013, had rated the school Outstanding across the board.

Academically, Neroche performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 KS2 assessments, 75% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Somerset average of 59%. The school’s reading results were particularly strong: 91% of pupils met the expected standard and 44% reached the higher standard, with an average scaled score of 109. In maths, 75% met the expected standard and 13% achieved the higher standard, with an average score of 105. Writing saw 84% at expected and 34% at the higher level. These outcomes place Neroche in the top 25% of primary schools nationally by the combined expected standard metric. The school’s Ofsted report from the same inspection rated quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all as Good, though the early years provision was judged as Requires improvement.

The school is clearly popular with local families: for the 2025/26 intake, Neroche received 58 applications for 30 places, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.93 applicants per place. Of those, 34 were first-preference applications, and 30 first-preference offers were made. Facilities include a library, art studios, an ICT suite, a sports hall, playing fields, and a forest school, plus a chapel. The sports programme covers rounders, football, cricket, athletics, netball and dance, while clubs range from art and coding to chess, science, film and choir. The school’s SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses from 64 families show 73% would recommend the school, though opinions are more divided on SEND support and how concerns are handled, with 36% agreeing and 36% disagreeing that SEND children get the support they need. This is a school that suits families who value strong academic outcomes and a wide range of activities, but who may want to investigate early years and SEND provision more closely.

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