Hesters Way Primary School

Cheltenham · GL51 0ES

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 171 pupils, 53.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 38% on SEN support Behaviour 7.5% absence rate Staff 3.5% turnover Financials £8,682 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Hesters Way Primary School

General Information

Address: Dill Avenue, Cheltenham, GL51 0ES – View on map
Phone: 01242525616
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Miss Kirsti Ashman
Age range: 4-11 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

171 pupils out of 210 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 92
% eligible for free school meals: 53.8%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Cheltenham average)
English as an additional language: 38% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 3.5% a year (Cheltenham 13.3%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Gloucestershire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 9 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 11 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Gloucestershire (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 7.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 27.4%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 38.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 8.2%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 29 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 20 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 14 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Severe learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card January 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Early years Strong standard
Leadership and governance Strong standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 57% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 7% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 5 percentage points below the Cheltenham average (62%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 55% against an expected 54%)
3-year average (expected standard): 55%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 73% · Writing 67% · Maths 67% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 73%
Average test scores: reading 105, maths 105
Based on: 30 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolCheltenham averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 5 percentage points below the Cheltenham average (62%).

Year 6 SATs: 15th of 24 junior and primary schools in the area

#13Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School62%
#14St James' Church of England Primary School59%
#15Hesters Way Primary School57%
#16Prestbury St Mary's Church of England Junior School56%
#17St John's Church of England Primary School55%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Charlton Kings Junior School84%
#2Holy Apostles' Church of England Primary School82%
#3Leckhampton Church of England Primary School81%
#4Glenfall Community Primary School77%
#5Naunton Park Primary School76%
=6Swindon Village Primary School73%
=6Warden Hill Primary School73%
#8Dunalley Primary School70%
#9Christ Church CofE Primary School69%
=10Greatfield Park Primary School67%
=10Rowanfield Junior School67%
#12St Mark's Church of England Junior School66%
#13Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School62%
#14St James' Church of England Primary School59%
#15Hesters Way Primary School57%
#16Prestbury St Mary's Church of England Junior School56%
#17St John's Church of England Primary School55%
#18Springbank Primary Academy53%
#19Lakeside Primary School52%
#20Gardners Lane Primary School50%
#21The Catholic School of Saint Gregory the Great48%
#22Gloucester Road Primary School38%
#23St Thomas More Catholic Primary School33%
#24Oakwood Primary School14%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,682 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

1st of 20 primary schools in Cheltenham for spending per pupil

#1Hesters Way Primary School£8,682
#2St Thomas More Catholic Primary School£8,319
#3Gloucester Road Primary School£8,072

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Hesters Way Primary School£8,682
#2St Thomas More Catholic Primary School£8,319
#3Gloucester Road Primary School£8,072
#4Oakwood Primary School£8,065
#5Christ Church CofE Primary School£7,618
#6Glenfall Community Primary School£7,477
#7Greatfield Park Primary School£7,294
#8Gardners Lane Primary School£7,096
#9Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School£7,068
#10Dunalley Primary School£6,911
#11St John's Church of England Primary School£6,786
#12The Catholic School of Saint Gregory the Great£6,457
#13Naunton Park Primary School£6,344
#14Swindon Village Primary School£6,112
#15Warden Hill Primary School£6,028
#16Lakeside Primary School£5,934
#17Holy Apostles' Church of England Primary School£5,802
#18Springbank Primary Academy£5,796
#19St James' Church of England Primary School£5,489
#20Leckhampton Church of England Primary School£5,409

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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