St Martin At Shouldham Church of England Primary Academy

About St Martin At Shouldham Church of England Primary Academy

St Martin At Shouldham Church of England Primary Academy is a state primary in Norfolk, serving 160 pupils aged 3 to 11 in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. It sits within a local authority where 21 out of 344 primary schools hold an Outstanding rating, and the school itself ranks 71st in the county. Among its top-performing peers in the same LA are Ditchingham Church of England Primary Academy, Surlingham Primary School, and Stalham Academy, all of which score higher on the KS2 expected standard metric. St Martin's own ranking score of 64 places it in the top 50 tier nationally, though its percentile position within the East of England region is 42.6. The school is Church of England and led by headteacher Katherine Howe. It was last inspected by Ofsted in December 2024, receiving a Good overall rating, with Outstanding marks for early years provision, personal development, and behaviour and attitudes. Its leadership and management, along with quality of education, were both rated Good.

In its most recent Key Stage 2 assessments, 64% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is comfortably above the Norfolk LA average of 52%. However, only 9% reached the higher standard across all three subjects. Reading and maths average scores were 106 and 107 respectively, with 82% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading and 86% in maths. Writing was slightly lower at 73% expected. Progress scores are not available for this data set, so it is not possible to compare pupil progress against national averages. The school's previous Ofsted inspection in 2013 rated it Outstanding overall, so the 2024 inspection represents a step down in overall effectiveness, though inspectors noted that early years, personal development, and behaviour remain outstanding. Parent feedback from the Parent View survey, with 49 responses, shows strong satisfaction: 86% would recommend the school, and 92% agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy there.

The school offers a range of facilities including a Forest School, sensory room, music rooms, chapel and dining hall. Sports provision covers cricket, rounders, dance, netball, gymnastics, cross country and swimming, while clubs include drama, film club, art club and science club. SEND support is available for a wide range of needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language difficulties, and social, emotional and mental health needs. The school has a nursery provision for younger children. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 37 applications were received for 18 places, with all 18 first-preference applicants offered a place, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.06. This suggests strong local demand. St Martin At Shouldham is best suited to families who value a Church of England primary with strong pastoral care, good behaviour standards, and a broad range of extracurricular activities, and who are comfortable with a school that performs above the local average academically but is not among the highest-achieving in the county.

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