Seamer and Irton Community Primary School

About Seamer and Irton Community Primary School

Seamer and Irton Community Primary School received a Requires Improvement rating from Ofsted following its most recent graded inspection in June 2025, a step down from the Good rating it had held since its previous inspection in 2014. The school’s most telling academic metric is the Key Stage 2 combined reading, writing and maths expected standard: only 44% of pupils reached this benchmark in the 2023/24 academic year, compared with a local authority average of 60% for North Yorkshire. This places the school in the bottom half of primary schools nationally, ranking 11,950th out of 13,686 schools. The picture is mixed across individual subjects: 77% of pupils met the expected standard in writing, which is a respectable figure, but maths (54%) and reading (61%) lag further behind. Just 5% of pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects, and the school’s ranking within North Yorkshire is 196th out of 223 primary schools.

Ofsted’s breakdown shows that while leadership and management and the quality of education both require improvement, other areas remain solid. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision were all rated Good. The parent view, gathered from 25 responses between September 2024 and September 2025, is broadly positive: 96% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and 96% felt their child is safe. However, there are notable concerns: 28% of parents disagreed that the school deals with concerns properly, and 28% disagreed that pupils are well behaved. On the question of whether the school has high expectations for their child, 20% disagreed or strongly disagreed. The school’s SEND provision received no responses at all, making it impossible to gauge parent satisfaction in that area.

The school is heavily oversubscribed: for 45 places in the 2025/26 reception intake, there were 107 applications, a ratio of 2.38 applicants per place, with all 40 first-preference families receiving offers. Facilities include an ICT suite, forest school, sensory room, and a chapel, and the school offers a range of clubs from science and coding to chess and book club. Sports provision covers dance, cross country, gymnastics, netball, rounders and tennis. The school supports a wide range of SEND needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language difficulties, and social, emotional and mental health needs. With 16.6% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a broadly representative community. This is a school where academic outcomes are currently a concern, but where parents report high levels of happiness and safety, and where the range of enrichment activities is strong. It may suit families who prioritise pastoral care and a broad curriculum over headline exam results, and who are prepared to engage actively with the school as it works to address the areas identified by Ofsted.

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