Pondhu Primary School
General Information
- Address: Penwinnick Road, St. Austell, PL25 5DS – View on map
- Phone: 0172674550
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Rachel Clift
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 17 families put it first for 17 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 8 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 78
- % eligible for free school meals: 46.2%
- Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (more mixed than the Cornwall average)
- English as an additional language: 6% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 18.5% a year (Cornwall 17%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 48% moved to another school, 52% 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
Across Cornwall: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 8 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 9 (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 Cornwall, 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: 5.1%
- Persistently absent pupils: 13.3%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 16.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.4%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 7 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
- Physical disability: 1 pupil
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 7 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2023 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 47% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 13 percentage points below the Cornwall average (60%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (3-year average 58% against an expected 51%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 58%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 58% · Writing 53% · Maths 63% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 42%
- Average test scores: reading 102, maths 102
- Based on: 19 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
Year 6 SATs: joint 168th of 209 junior and primary schools in the area
- =168Harrowbarrow Primary Academy47%
- =168Heamoor Community Primary School47%
- =168Pondhu Primary School47%
- =168St Erme with Trispen Community Primary School47%
- =168Tregolls Academy47%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
85th of 166 primary schools in Cornwall for Ofsted rating
- #83Perranporth Community Primary SchoolGood
- #84Polperro Primary AcademyGood
- #85Pondhu Primary SchoolGood
- #86Portreath Community Primary SchoolGood
- #87Probus Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £9,404 (2024-25)
26th of 219 primary schools in Cornwall for spending per pupil
- #24Trekenner Community Primary School£9,629
- #25Warbstow Primary Academy£9,438
- #26Pondhu Primary School£9,404
- #27St Wenn School£9,392
- #28St Tudy CofE Primary School£9,257
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)