Sutton St James Community Primary School

South Holland · PE12 0JG

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 140 pupils, 26.4% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 17.9% on SEN support Behaviour 3.8% absence rate Staff 4% turnover Financials £7,667 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Sutton St James Community Primary School

General Information

Address: Bells Drove, Sutton St James, Spalding, PE12 0JG – View on map
Phone: 01945440209
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Miss Claire Willows
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 15 families put it first for 16 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 3 of the 16 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 14 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

140 pupils out of 140 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 37
% eligible for free school meals: 26.4%
Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the South Holland average)
English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 4% a year (South Holland 14.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% 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 Lincolnshire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 15 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 6 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 2 (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 Lincolnshire (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: 3.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 5.9%
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: 17.9%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 7.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 9 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 8 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Hearing impairment: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 7 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 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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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 June 2026

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

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Needs attention
Leadership and governance Expected 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: 77% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 19 percentage points above the South Holland average (58%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 71% against an expected 57%)
3-year average (expected standard): 71%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 92% · Writing 77% · Maths 85% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 77%
Average test scores: reading 106, maths 103
Based on: 13 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 schoolSouth Holland 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 19 percentage points above the South Holland average (58%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 4th of 32 junior and primary schools in the area

#2Gosberton Academy80%
#3The Tydd St Mary Church of England Primary School79%
=4Sutton St James Community Primary School77%
=4Wygate Park Academy77%
#6Sutton Bridge Westmere Community Primary School70%

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

#1Quadring Cowley & Brown's Primary School94%
#2Gosberton Academy80%
#3The Tydd St Mary Church of England Primary School79%
=4Sutton St James Community Primary School77%
=4Wygate Park Academy77%
#6Sutton Bridge Westmere Community Primary School70%
#7The Holbeach William Stukeley Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School68%
=8Fleet Wood Lane School67%
=8The Spalding St John the Baptist Church of England Primary School67%
#10The John Harrox Primary School, Moulton65%
=11Lutton St Nicholas Primary Academy60%
=11Monkshouse Primary Academy60%
=11South View Community Primary School60%
#14Weston Hills CofE Primary School59%
=15Gedney Church End Primary Academy58%
=15The Pinchbeck East Church of England Primary Academy58%
#17Deeping St Nicholas Primary School56%
=18Holbeach Primary Academy53%
=18Spalding Primary Academy53%
=20Spalding Parish Church of England Day School52%
=20St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy52%
=22Shepeau Stow Primary School50%
=22Whaplode Church of England Primary School50%
#24Surfleet Primary School47%
#25St Bartholomews CofE Primary School44%
#26Clough and Risegate Community Primary School43%
#27The Donington Cowley Endowed Primary School41%
#28St Paul's Community Primary and Nursery School, Spalding39%
=29Gedney Drove End Primary School33%
=29Moulton Chapel Primary School33%
#31Long Sutton County Primary School32%
#32Holbeach Bank Primary Academy23%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,667 (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.

16th of 35 primary schools in South Holland for spending per pupil

#14St Paul's Community Primary and Nursery School, Spalding£7,824
#15Quadring Cowley & Brown's Primary School£7,718
#16Sutton St James Community Primary School£7,667
#17The Donington Cowley Endowed Primary School£7,411
#18Weston St Mary Church of England Primary School£7,407

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

#1Gedney Drove End Primary School£14,138
#2Gedney Church End Primary Academy£12,523
#3The Gedney Hill Church of England VC Primary School£12,476
#4The Holbeach St Mark's Church of England Primary School£12,097
#5Moulton Chapel Primary School£9,842
#6Shepeau Stow Primary School£9,469
#7Surfleet Primary School£9,313
#8Holbeach Bank Primary Academy£9,229
#9Deeping St Nicholas Primary School£9,191
#10St Bartholomews CofE Primary School£8,627
#11The Tydd St Mary Church of England Primary School£8,162
#12Sutton Bridge Westmere Community Primary School£8,005
#13Clough and Risegate Community Primary School£7,957
#14St Paul's Community Primary and Nursery School, Spalding£7,824
#15Quadring Cowley & Brown's Primary School£7,718
#16Sutton St James Community Primary School£7,667
#17The Donington Cowley Endowed Primary School£7,411
#18Weston St Mary Church of England Primary School£7,407
#19Weston Hills CofE Primary School£7,330
#20Holbeach Primary Academy£7,289
#21Fleet Wood Lane School£7,203
#22The Holbeach William Stukeley Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£7,123
#23Lutton St Nicholas Primary Academy£6,922
#24South View Community Primary School£6,754
#25St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy£6,510
#26The Spalding St John the Baptist Church of England Primary School£6,499
#27The John Harrox Primary School, Moulton£6,361
#28Spalding Primary Academy£6,324
#29Long Sutton County Primary School£6,137
#30Gosberton Academy£6,097
#31Monkshouse Primary Academy£6,064
#32Whaplode Church of England Primary School£5,851
#33Wygate Park Academy£5,839
#34Spalding Parish Church of England Day School£5,378
#35The Pinchbeck East Church of England Primary Academy£5,346

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

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