St Mary and St John CofE VA Primary School

About St Mary and St John CofE VA Primary School

Parents considering St Mary and St John CofE VA Primary School will find a school that local families clearly want to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 42 applications for just 24 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.75. Every one of those 24 first-preference applicants was offered a place, which suggests that for families who put it top of their list, the school is a realistic option despite being popular. The school is a Church of England voluntary aided primary, with headteacher Hannah Roddy leading a pupil roll of 179 against a capacity of 220, so there is some room to grow. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, the school was rated Good across every category: overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. That is a clean sweep of Good grades, and it matches the Good rating it held in its previous 2014 inspection.

Academically, the school performs around the middle of the pack in Rutland. At Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, 65% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is slightly below the Rutland local authority average of 70%, and it places the school 12th out of 17 primary schools in the county. Looking at individual subjects, reading was the strongest area, with 85% of pupils reaching the expected standard and an average scaled score of 106. Maths followed at 73% expected and an average score of 104, while writing was at 69%. At the higher standard, 27% of pupils achieved higher scores in both reading and maths, but only 4% did so in writing and in the combined measure. Nationally, the school sits in the 45th percentile for the combined expected standard, so it is broadly in line with the national picture.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for a primary of its size, including playing fields, a sports hall, a gymnasium, a library, an ICT suite, music rooms, a chapel, and a Forest School programme. Sports on offer include gymnastics, athletics, rounders, dance, cricket and football, and there are clubs for coding, book club, film club, drama and gardening. The SEND provision is notably broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language needs, visual impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. With nursery provision on site, it can take children from age three. This is a church school that is popular but not impossible to get into, and it will suit families who value a Good-rated, well-resourced primary with a strong SEND offer and a clear Christian character.

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