North Elmham Church of England Primary Academy & Nursery

About North Elmham Church of England Primary Academy & Nursery

North Elmham Church of England Primary Academy & Nursery is a small state primary in the Norfolk local authority, situated in the Breckland borough. With just 54 pupils on roll, it is one of 344 primary schools in the county, and its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 placed it in the Requires Improvement category. That puts it some distance behind the top-performing peers in the area, such as Ditchingham Church of England Primary Academy and Surlingham Primary School, both of which achieved the highest possible ranking score in local comparisons, and Stalham Academy, which scored 89. The school’s leadership and management were rated Good in that inspection, but every other area — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision — was judged to be Requires Improvement. The school does have a nursery provision, taking children from age two, and it operates as a Church of England academy, though the data does not provide any further detail on its religious character in practice.

Academically, the picture is mixed. The school’s most recent Ofsted report noted that the quality of education requires improvement, and the early years provision was also rated Requires Improvement. There are no published Key Stage 2 SATs results in the data, so it is not possible to compare the school’s attainment directly against the Norfolk local authority average of 52. However, the school’s Progress 8 score is also absent from the data, meaning parents cannot see how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. The school does have a relatively high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 27.8%, which is above the national average and may reflect the challenges the school faces. The previous inspection in 2019 also rated the school Requires Improvement overall, with leadership and management at that time also Requires Improvement, so the recent improvement in that specific area to Good is a positive sign, even if the overall rating has not yet changed.

The school offers a range of facilities including a music room, ICT suite, dining hall, sensory room, library, gymnasium, and chapel, and pupils can take part in sports such as gymnastics, netball, dance, athletics, and tennis. Clubs include science, eco, and art clubs. For children with additional needs, the school provides support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. Admissions for the 2025/26 year show the school is oversubscribed: it received 17 applications for 8 places, with 8 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.13. This suggests strong local demand despite the Requires Improvement rating. This school may suit families who value a small, rural Church of England setting with a nursery and who are comfortable with a school that is actively working to improve, as evidenced by the Good leadership rating.

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