St Leonard's Church of England Primary School

About St Leonard's Church of England Primary School

St Leonard's Church of England Primary School sits within the Essex local authority, a state primary for mixed pupils aged 4 to 11. In the Maldon district, it ranks 16th out of 17 primary schools, placing it in the bottom tier locally. The top-performing peers in the area include St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School, Colchester, Stambridge Primary School, and Great Totham Primary School, all of which achieved the highest possible ranking scores. The nearest school rated Outstanding by Ofsted is Burnham-on-Crouch Primary School, located 3.4 kilometres away. St Leonard's itself holds a Good rating from its most recent inspection in 2024, a significant improvement from its previous Inadequate rating in 2022. The school has a capacity of 315 pupils and currently enrols 253, with 29.2 per cent eligible for free school meals. It is a Church of England school, led by headteacher Wendy Woods, and its facilities include a sports hall, playing fields, a sensory room, and a chapel.

Academically, St Leonard's Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 academic year show that 23 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined. This is well below the Essex local authority average of 62 per cent. In individual subjects, 60 per cent reached the expected standard in reading, 34 per cent in writing, and 31 per cent in maths. The average scaled scores were 101 for reading and 96 for maths. Only 17 per cent achieved a higher standard in reading, 6 per cent in maths, and none in writing or the combined measure. Nationally, the school ranks in the bottom 2 per cent of all primary schools for this combined metric. The Ofsted report from April 2024 rated every category as Good, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision, a notable turnaround from the previous inspection where personal development and behaviour were rated Requires Improvement.

The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 59 applications for 58 places and 29 first-preference offers. This suggests strong local demand despite the academic results. St Leonard's offers a range of clubs including coding, film, gardening, and book club, and sports such as cross country, athletics, dance, and football. Its SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Families considering this school should weigh its inclusive pastoral support and improved Ofsted rating against below-average academic outcomes. It may particularly suit those seeking a faith-based primary with a broad extracurricular offer and a clear focus on personal development, especially for children who benefit from the sensory room and dedicated SEND resources.

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