Ofsted: Requires improvement trending_up Places Available

Layston Church of England First School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Adele McMurrough

location_onBuntingford, SG9 9EU

language Visit Website phone 1763271235

verified

Ofsted

Requires improvement

Inspected 2023

groups

Students

145

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

0.9x

summarize

Layston Church of England First School is a Voluntary controlled school primary school in Buntingford, serving ages 5-9. Currently Requires Improvement according to Ofsted — the school is working to raise standards.

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School Summary

Layston Church of England First School is a voluntary controlled school in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, admitting pupils aged 5-9. The school has approximately 139 pupils on roll, of whom 22% are eligible for free school meals.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2023. The school's current overall rating is Requires improvement. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Requires improvement, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Requires improvement.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 0.9× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 23.0:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.4 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

31 October 2023

Inspection Report

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04 June 2009

Inspection Report

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18 May 2006

Inspection Report

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15 May 2000

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2023-10-31

S5 Inspection EIF

Requires improvement

Education

Requires improvement

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Requires improvement

2009-06-04

Section 5 RTI Historic EIF

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

2006-05-18

None EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.0%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.0%(0 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 139 pupils. During this period, there were 0 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.0%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	139	0	0.0%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	141	1	0.7%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	146	1	0.7%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	146	2	1.4%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	147	3	2.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	146	1	0.7%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	145	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	145	1	0.7%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	147	3	2.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	148	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	150	1	0.7%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	148	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	149	2	1.3%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	149	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	151	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	151	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	153	4	2.6%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	148	1	0.7%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	149	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	150	1	0.7%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	151	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	151	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	151	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	150	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	148	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	150	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 10 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 8 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 4 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 2 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 1 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 1 pupils

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Layston Church of England First School

School Summary

Academic Performance

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Church of England)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in Hertfordshire

St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans

Field Junior School

London Colney Primary & Nursery School

Swallow Dell Primary and Nursery School

Richard Whittington Primary School

Bovingdon Primary Academy