St Mary’s CofE (A) First School, Uttoxeter Review 2026: Church of England first school with wraparound care and strong transition links

. That removes the usual anchor points parents expect when comparing first schools at scale.

What can be stated confidently is the current inspection position. The school’s overall Ofsted rating is Good, and the most recent inspection was a school inspection in May 2025, published 16 June 2025. The report format notes the post September 2024 context around grades, while confirming the school’s prior overall effectiveness judgement remains visible as Good.

The curriculum narrative on the school website stresses questioning, exploration, and building curiosity. That is a helpful framing for a first school, since good early pedagogy often looks like strong routines paired with structured talk, vocabulary building, and carefully sequenced knowledge.

Subject leadership appears clearly allocated across staff roles, which can be a good sign of coherence even in a small setting. The staff overview lists leads for English, mathematics, computing and design and technology, creative arts, and humanities, plus a school council responsibility within leadership. Clear ownership often correlates with better curriculum consistency for pupils moving between classes and mixed-age groupings.

Languages are also part of the offer. The French curriculum page states that children in Years 3 and 4 learn French, with an emphasis on understanding and responding to spoken and written language and expressing ideas with confidence. In a first school context, that usually means careful focus on listening, pronunciation, and simple sentence structures, and it can support transition into middle school language pathways if continuity is in place.

Nursery provision is integrated into the school’s life. Children can be admitted from age 3, with government-funded hours available from the term after a child turns 3, and families may be eligible for 30 hours funded childcare. Sessions are described as Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 3:30pm. This is operationally important, because it frames nursery as a full school-day pattern rather than a short morning model, and it also makes the move into Reception simpler for families already aligned to the school day.

Because this is a first school, the key transition point comes earlier than many parents new to Staffordshire expect. Pupils typically move on at the end of Year 4 into Year 5 at middle school.

The school states it has strong links within the Uttoxeter pyramid and highlights early transition activity with Windsor Park Middle School, supporting Year 4 pupils to move confidently at the end of the year. For parents, the implication is that the school is planning social and academic continuity, not simply handing pupils over after SATs style preparation.

If you are shortlisting, it is worth mapping the likely middle school routes from your address and checking how each option handles Year 5 induction, SEND handover, and transport. The FindMySchool Map Search can help you sanity-check practical travel and distance assumptions before you commit to a plan based on a preferred destination school.

For Reception entry in September each year, admissions are coordinated through Staffordshire, using the local authority process and timescales. The school’s admissions page states that first school applications are typically made online from November to January for that September intake. The planned admissions number for Reception is stated as 45, and if applications exceed that number, places are allocated using the local authority’s oversubscription criteria.

The school is oversubscribed in the supplied admissions results for primary entry, with 80 applications for 44 offers and an applications to offers ratio of 1.82. That is not extreme compared with some urban primaries, but it does indicate that families should treat admission as competitive rather than automatic.

Nursery admissions run differently. The school manages nursery admissions directly and states applications for nursery places can be made at any time by contacting the office team. Importantly, families should not assume nursery attendance guarantees a Reception place, because Reception allocations are still routed through the local authority process.

For practical planning, Staffordshire’s national primary application deadline for September 2026 entry is referenced in school communications as 15 January 2026. Even if your child is already in the nursery, treat that January deadline as non-negotiable.

Safeguarding and inclusion leadership is clearly signposted. The school lists the head teacher as Designated Safeguarding Lead, with a deputy safeguarding lead also identified among staff, and SENCo responsibilities shared between named staff. That clarity helps parents understand accountability, particularly if a child has additional needs or if you want to know who owns early intervention and referral pathways.

External evaluation identifies a specific behavioural improvement point. The most recent inspection notes that low-level disruption is not consistently addressed by adults, which can lead to some pupils being off task and not completing work, and it advises consistent application of the behaviour policy. For parents, the key question is consistency, not whether any disruption exists, because in a small first school even minor inconsistency can ripple through learning time.

Enrichment matters in a first school because it is often where confidence and friendship networks form, especially ahead of the Year 5 move. The school’s enrichment clubs page lists a rotating set of sports clubs across the year, including archery, yoga, dodgeball, and touch rugby. The value is not that every child becomes a specialist, but that the menu is varied enough to catch different interests early.

Wraparound care also functions as enrichment for many children. Breakfast club runs 7:30am to 8:45am, and after-school club runs 3:30pm to 5:30pm, using Penguins Nursery as the after-school base. The published prices vary by session length, with multiple after-school time bands available. This matters if you are comparing schools, because a school with the right hours can remove the need for separate paid childcare.

There are also school-community links that reinforce the Church of England distinctiveness in an accessible way. Newsletters reference Messy Church sessions, positioned as family-friendly after-school activities. That will suit some families strongly, and it is also a useful clue about how faith is expressed, through community participation rather than only through formal worship.

The school gates open at 8:40am, doors open at 8:45am, and the school day starts at 9:00am and ends at 3:30pm. Nursery drop-off is described as 8:50am to 9:00am, with pick-up at 3:30pm.

Wraparound care is available on site. Breakfast club starts at 7:30am and after-school provision runs until 5:30pm, with several session options priced by finish time.

Transport and access will depend on where you live in Uttoxeter and nearby villages, but because the school feeds into the local pyramid, planning the middle school transition route is as important as the Reception route. Families should map the home to school journey for both stages, not just the first school years.

• Reception competition. The supplied admissions data indicates more applications than offers for primary entry, so admission is not guaranteed. Families should follow Staffordshire’s timeline closely and avoid assuming nursery attendance equals a Reception place.

• Behaviour consistency. External evaluation flags low-level disruption not being picked up consistently. Ask how behaviour expectations are taught and reinforced, and what leaders have changed since the inspection.

• Early transition. Moving on at the end of Year 4 is a meaningful change for some children. The school references structured links with the local middle school, but families should still check what Year 5 feels like for their child, especially around travel, homework, and peer group shift.

• Data-light outcomes. If you rely heavily on published attainment figures to compare schools, note that the does not include results metrics for this school. You may need to use other official indicators and your own visit questions to judge academic fit.

St Mary’s CofE (A) First School is a well-organised first school with a clear Church of England identity, practical wraparound care, and explicit planning for the Year 4 to Year 5 transition. It suits families who value a faith-shaped community ethos and need childcare coverage that matches working hours, and it can also suit children who benefit from a smaller-school feel before moving into the middle school phase. The main decision point is not the marketing, it is the operational detail, admissions timing, and whether behaviour expectations are consistently reinforced for your child.