St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown

Dorset · DT2 8SA

General information Secondary School · 9-13 years Who goes here 441 pupils, 20.9% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN Resourced provision · 22% on SEN support Behaviour 6.5% absence rate Staff 13.2% turnover Financials £6,672 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown

General Information

Address: Coombe Road, Puddletown, Dorchester, DT2 8SA – View on map
Phone: 01305848293
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Dr Tim Ennion
Age range: 9-13 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

441 pupils out of 480 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 92
% eligible for free school meals: 20.9%
Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the Dorset average)
English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 13.2% a year (Dorset 15%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 34% moved to another school, 66% 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.

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 Dorset: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 49 (2.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 54 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 20 (0.8 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Dorset, 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: 6.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 18.8%
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

Resourced provision for AutismSpeech, language and communicationOther needs 10 places · 10 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 22.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 30 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 27 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 25 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 4 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Moderate 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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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2019 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

An Attainment 8 score for this school hasn't been added yet.

View full Ofsted inspection report

9th of 20 secondary schools in Dorset for Ofsted rating

#7Lytchett Minster SchoolGood
#8Shaftesbury SchoolGood
#9St Mary's Church of England Middle School, PuddletownGood
#10St Michael's Church of England Middle School, ColehillGood
#11St Osmund's Church of England Middle SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Beaminster SchoolGood
#2Cranborne Middle SchoolGood
#3Dorset Studio SchoolGood
#4Emmanuel Church of England Middle SchoolGood
#5Ferndown Middle SchoolGood
#6Lockyer's Middle SchoolGood
#7Lytchett Minster SchoolGood
#8Shaftesbury SchoolGood
#9St Mary's Church of England Middle School, PuddletownGood
#10St Michael's Church of England Middle School, ColehillGood
#11St Osmund's Church of England Middle SchoolGood
#12The Blandford SchoolGood
#13The Gryphon SchoolGood
#14The Sir John Colfox AcademyGood
#15The Swanage SchoolGood
#16The Woodroffe SchoolGood
#17Wey Valley AcademyGood
#18All Saints' Church of England AcademyRequires improvement
#19Budmouth Academy WeymouthRequires improvement
#20Queen Elizabeth's SchoolRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,672 (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.

17th of 25 secondary schools in Dorset for spending per pupil

#15Lytchett Minster School£6,991
#16Wey Valley Academy£6,932
#17St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown£6,672
#18Budmouth Academy Weymouth£6,654
#19Dorchester Middle School£6,499

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

#1Dorset Studio School£12,868
#2The Sir John Colfox Academy£9,808
#3West Moors Middle School£9,264
#4The Swanage School£9,162
#5All Saints' Church of England Academy£8,352
#6Ferndown Upper School£7,798
#7Beaminster School£7,758
#8The Woodroffe School£7,651
#9Cranborne Middle School£7,640
#10The Purbeck School£7,591
#11Queen Elizabeth's School£7,473
#12The Blandford School£7,449
#13The Thomas Hardye School£7,222
#14Atlantic Academy Portland£7,205
#15Lytchett Minster School£6,991
#16Wey Valley Academy£6,932
#17St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown£6,672
#18Budmouth Academy Weymouth£6,654
#19Dorchester Middle School£6,499
#20Ferndown Middle School£6,227
#21St Michael's Church of England Middle School, Colehill£6,062
#22Emmanuel Church of England Middle School£5,779
#23St Osmund's Church of England Middle School£5,695
#24Allenbourn Middle School£5,475
#25Lockyer's Middle School£5,412

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

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