St Francis Church of England Primary School

About St Francis Church of England Primary School

St Francis Church of England Primary School sits within the Oxfordshire local authority, one of 242 primary schools in the area. While the school holds a Good Ofsted rating, it is not among the top-ranked peers in the county; those include Longworth Primary School and Hornton Primary School, both with a perfect ranking score of 100, and Brightwell-Cum-Sotwell Church of England Primary School at 92. St Francis is a state-funded, mixed-gender primary school for children aged 3 to 11, with a Church of England religious character. The school is led by headteachers Fleur Belcher and Lorraine Wood and currently has 223 pupils on roll, just shy of its capacity of 236. It offers nursery provision, which is a practical option for families with younger children. The school is noticeably oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 43 applications for 23 places, with 21 of those being first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.87. That level of demand suggests strong local reputation, even if the school doesn't top the county's performance rankings.

Academically, St Francis has maintained a consistent Good rating across its recent Ofsted inspections. In its most recent graded inspection in December 2021, the school received Good marks across all five categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This is a solid improvement from its previous inspection in 2016, where early years provision was graded as Requires Improvement (a score of 2 on the old scale, but the label was not recorded). The school's overall effectiveness has remained Good. At Key Stage 2, the local authority average for pupils meeting the expected standard is 61 per cent, though St Francis's own KS2 results are not provided in the data. The school serves a relatively disadvantaged cohort, with 20.8 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average. This context makes its consistent Good rating particularly noteworthy, as it suggests the school is effectively supporting a diverse pupil body.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including an art studio, ICT suite, sports hall, library, sensory room, and a chapel, reflecting its Church of England foundation. Sports provision is strong, with football, cricket, rounders, swimming, gymnastics, netball, and athletics on offer, alongside clubs for coding, art, and science. For families with children who have additional needs, St Francis provides support for moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication difficulties, and autistic spectrum disorder. The school is oversubscribed, so families applying should be prepared for competition, particularly for first-preference places. Given its Good rating, Church of England character, nursery provision, and strong SEND support, St Francis is well suited to local families seeking a community-focused primary school with a clear moral framework and a track record of steady, if not outstanding, performance.

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