St Merryn School
General Information
- Address: St Merryn, Padstow, PL28 8NP – View on map
- Phone: 01841520683
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Kyja King
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 12 families put it first for 12 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 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 10
- % eligible for free school meals: 9.4%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (similar to the Cornwall average)
- English as an additional language: 4% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 34% a year (Cornwall 17%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 30% moved to another school, 70% 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: 5.7%
- Persistently absent pupils: 10.3%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 15.7%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.7%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 8 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 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: 74% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 5% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 14 percentage points above the Cornwall average (60%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 61% against an expected 71%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 61%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 84% · Writing 79% · Maths 79% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 84%
- Average test scores: reading 105, maths 105
- 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 38th of 209 junior and primary schools in the area
- =33Upton Cross Academy75%
- =38King Charles Church of England Primary School74%
- =38St Merryn School74%
- =40Calstock Community Primary School73%
- =40Menheniot Primary School73%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
117th of 166 primary schools in Cornwall for Ofsted rating
- #115St Mawes Primary SchoolGood
- #116St Mellion Church of England Primary SchoolGood
- #117St Merryn SchoolGood
- #118St Mewan Community Primary SchoolGood
- #119St Michael's Church of England Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,595 (2024-25)
75th of 219 primary schools in Cornwall for spending per pupil
- #73Boskenwyn Community Primary School£7,623
- #74Pencoys Primary School£7,622
- #75St Merryn School£7,595
- #76Upton Cross Academy£7,537
- #77Cardinham School£7,537
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)