St Mary's, Prittlewell, CofE Primary School

About St Mary's, Prittlewell, CofE Primary School

St Mary's, Prittlewell, CofE Primary School sits within the Southend-on-Sea local authority, where it ranks 21st out of 25 primary schools on the key stage 2 expected standard measure. That places it in the bottom half of its local peers, well behind the top three performers in the area: Bournes Green Junior School, Darlinghurst Academy, and St Helen's Catholic Primary School. The school is a Church of England state primary for mixed pupils aged 4 to 11, led by headteacher Aleishia Lewis. It is significantly oversubscribed: for 60 places in the 2025/26 intake, the school received 118 applications, with 50 first-preference offers made. That oversubscription ratio of 1.97 suggests strong local demand, even though its academic ranking is modest. The nearest school rated Outstanding by Ofsted is Barons Court Primary School and Nursery, just 0.6 kilometres away, which gives families a nearby alternative if they are prioritising the top Ofsted grade.

Academically, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in 2025 judged it Good across all graded areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The previous inspection in 2020 also rated it Good overall. At key stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, 47% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is below the local authority average of 61%. The school's ranking score of 47 places it in the bottom 50 nationally. Looking at individual subjects, 65% met the expected standard in reading, 67% in writing, and 61% in maths. Higher standard attainment was low: just 4% achieved the higher standard across all three subjects, 16% in maths, 21% in reading, and 21% in writing. Average scaled scores were 103 in reading and 101 in maths. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is unclear how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points.

The school offers a broad set of facilities including a Forest School, art studios, a library, sports hall, music rooms, a chapel, and playing fields. Sports on offer include dance, netball, gymnastics, rounders, athletics, cricket, and football, while clubs include gardening, art club, and coding. SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses from 76 respondents in the 2024/25 period show 86% would recommend the school. Strongly positive responses were high on happiness (62% strongly agree their child is happy), safety (62% strongly agree their child feels safe), and clubs (59% strongly agree their child can take part). However, SEND support drew a more mixed response: 33% strongly agreed and 27% disagreed that the school gives SEND children the support they need. This is a school that clearly appeals to local families despite middling results, and may suit those who value its Church of England character, facilities, and community feel over raw academic rankings.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About St Mary's, Prittlewell, CofE Primary School

Helpful Guides for Parents