Thurlow Voluntary Controlled Primary School

West Suffolk · CB9 7HY

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 77 pupils, 14.3% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 24.7% on SEN support Behaviour 5.5% absence rate Staff 37.5% turnover Financials Spending and funding Environment Buildings and facilities

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Thurlow Voluntary Controlled Primary School

General Information

Address: The Street, Little Thurlow, Haverhill, CB9 7HY – View on map
Phone: 01440783281
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Sharon FitzGerald
Age range: 4-11 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 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 11 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

77 pupils out of 105 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 11
% eligible for free school meals: 14.3%
Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the West Suffolk average)
English as an additional language: 0% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 37.5% a year (West Suffolk 15.7%, 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 Suffolk: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 20 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 14 (0.3 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 Suffolk (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: 5.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 11.3%
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: 24.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 8 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 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

Good 2023 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.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 73% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 9% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 13 percentage points above the West Suffolk average (60%)
3-year average (expected standard): 73%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 100% · Writing 73% · Maths 91% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 82%
Average test scores: reading 109, maths 106
Based on: 11 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 schoolWest Suffolk 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 13 percentage points above the West Suffolk average (60%).

Year 6 SATs: 8th of 47 junior and primary schools in the area

=6Exning Primary School75%
=6Place Farm Primary Academy75%
#8Thurlow Voluntary Controlled Primary School73%
=9Beck Row Primary Academy71%
=9Great Whelnetham Church of England Primary School71%

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

#1Kedington Primary Academy84%
#2Moulton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School83%
#3Abbots Green Primary Academy82%
=4Coupals Primary Academy77%
=4St Christopher's CEVCP School77%
=6Exning Primary School75%
=6Place Farm Primary Academy75%
#8Thurlow Voluntary Controlled Primary School73%
=9Beck Row Primary Academy71%
=9Great Whelnetham Church of England Primary School71%
=9Paddocks Primary School71%
#12Wickhambrook Primary Academy70%
#13Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School69%
=14Sebert Wood Community Primary School68%
=14Tollgate Primary School68%
=16Barrow Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School67%
=16Great Barton Church of England Primary Academy67%
=16West Row Academy67%
#19Houldsworth Valley Primary Academy65%
=20Laureate Community Academy64%
=20Rougham Church of England Primary School64%
=20St Louis Catholic Academy64%
#23The Pines Primary School61%
#24Glade Academy58%
=25Barnham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School57%
=25Burton End Primary Academy57%
=25Clements Primary Academy57%
=25Elveden Church of England Primary Academy57%
=29Great Heath Academy55%
=29Westfield Primary Academy55%
=31Forest Academy54%
=31Risby Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School54%
=33Barningham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School50%
=33Clare Community Primary School50%
=33New Cangle Community Primary School50%
#36All Saints Church of England Primary School, Newmarket48%
=37Lakenheath Community Primary School45%
=37St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, Haverhill45%
=39Bardwell Church of England Primary School43%
=39Hundon Community Primary School43%
#41Ixworth Church of England Primary School40%
#42Westgate Community Primary School and Nursery39%
#43Howard Community Academy36%
#44Hardwick Primary School35%
#45St Mary's Church of England Academy31%
#46Sexton's Manor Primary School27%
#47St Edmundsbury CofE Primary Academy25%

View full Ofsted inspection report

36th of 42 primary schools in West Suffolk for Ofsted rating

#34Stanton Primary SchoolGood
#35The Pines Primary SchoolGood
#36Thurlow Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolGood
#37Tollgate Primary SchoolGood
#38Westfield Primary AcademyGood

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

#1Elveden Church of England Primary AcademyOutstanding
#2Exning Primary SchoolOutstanding
#3Moulton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolOutstanding
#4Abbots Green Primary AcademyGood
#5All Saints Church of England Primary School, NewmarketGood
#6Bardwell Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#7Barnham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolGood
#8Beck Row Primary AcademyGood
#9Burton End Primary AcademyGood
#10Clare Community Primary SchoolGood
#11Coupals Primary AcademyGood
#12Glade AcademyGood
#13Great Barton Church of England Primary AcademyGood
#14Great Heath AcademyGood
#15Great Whelnetham Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#16Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary SchoolGood
#17Hardwick Primary SchoolGood
#18Honington Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#19Houldsworth Valley Primary AcademyGood
#20Hundon Community Primary SchoolGood
#21Ickworth Park Primary SchoolGood
#22Ixworth Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#23Kedington Primary AcademyGood
#24Lakenheath Community Primary SchoolGood
#25New Cangle Community Primary SchoolGood
#26Paddocks Primary SchoolGood
#27Place Farm Primary AcademyGood
#28Risby Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolGood
#29Rougham Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#30Sebert Wood Community Primary SchoolGood
#31St Christopher's CEVCP SchoolGood
#32St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, HaverhillGood
#33St Louis Catholic AcademyGood
#34Stanton Primary SchoolGood
#35The Pines Primary SchoolGood
#36Thurlow Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolGood
#37Tollgate Primary SchoolGood
#38Westfield Primary AcademyGood
#39Westgate Community Primary School and NurseryGood
#40St Edmundsbury CofE Primary AcademyRequires improvement
#41St Mary's Church of England AcademyRequires improvement
#42Cavendish Church of England Primary SchoolInadequate

Financials

Spending per pupil, and how this school compares to others nearby, will appear here once we've linked in official DfE spending data.

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

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