St Martin's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Fangfoss Review 2026: Elite KS2 outcomes with a village school feel

A small rural primary with unusually high academic outcomes, St Martin’s combines a close-knit structure with consistently strong end of Key Stage 2 results. The school serves children aged 3 to 11 and includes a nursery for 3 and 4 year olds. Its scale matters: with a published capacity of 112, the day-to-day experience tends to be intimate, with staff visibility high and routines easier to personalise than in larger primaries.

Admissions demand is real even at this size. For the most recent Reception admissions snapshot available there were 32 applications for 15 offers, and the route is recorded as oversubscribed. That dynamic shapes decision-making for families nearby, particularly because village schools can attract applications from a wider radius than parents expect.

Operationally, families get long wraparound hours for a village setting. The school day runs 08:45 to 15:15, with school-run wraparound care available from 07:30 to 17:45.

This is a Church of England voluntary aided school, and the faith element is not decorative. The school’s published vision places Christian values at the centre, while also stating respect for families of other faiths and none. In practice, that usually translates into regular collective worship, close links with the local church, and a vocabulary of values that pupils hear repeatedly across assemblies and classroom expectations.

Leadership is currently described on the school website as interim, with Laura Fannon named as interim headteacher and designated safeguarding lead. The local authority directory also lists her as the person in charge.

It is also clear that the school has recently been through a leadership handover. A July 2025 school newsletter is written by Juliet Robinson, who describes retiring after six years as headteacher, which helps explain why different official records may not always align at a single point in time.

Small-school culture can be a genuine advantage when it is matched to clear adult roles. The published staff structure signals that: there is a named Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), a French lead (with a designated curriculum lead), and a member of staff listed as an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA). Those job labels matter for parents, because they indicate planned responsibility rather than informal goodwill.

Early years appears fully integrated into the life of the school rather than bolted on. The website describes early years as a safe and purposeful environment, with an explicit aim that children leave Reception as confident, resilient and independent learners. The curriculum documentation for nursery and Reception is organised through themed units such as All About Me, Superheroes, and The Great Outdoors, which gives parents a concrete sense of how learning is sequenced across the year.

The headline story is Key Stage 2 attainment at the expected standard. In 2024, 97% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined, compared with an England average of 62%. For a primary of this size, that is exceptional, because small cohorts can make percentages volatile, yet this level still indicates a consistently high-performing year.

At the higher standard, 45.67% achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics, compared with an England average of 8%. That gap is large enough to be meaningful for parents deciding whether the school stretches higher attainers, not just supports children to reach the expected threshold.

Scaled scores sit at 112 for reading, 111 for mathematics, and 112 for grammar, punctuation and spelling, with a combined total score of 335. Science is also recorded at 100% at the expected standard, compared with an England average of 82%.

In the FindMySchool ranking (based on official performance data), St Martin’s is ranked 91st in England for primary outcomes, and 1st in the York local area, placing it among the highest-performing schools in England (top 2%).

These data points together suggest two things. First, the school is not relying on a single strong area: reading, mathematics, writing depth, and science all show strength. Second, pupils with higher prior attainment appear to be making substantial progress, given the unusually high higher-standard figure.

(Performance and ranking figures above are from the provided dataset.)

The school’s curriculum overview stresses deliberate design, with attention to foundational knowledge and applying knowledge as skills. That kind of phrasing is easy to dismiss as generic until you look for the operational signs. Here, there are several. Curriculum leadership is explicitly distributed across subjects, including reading, mathematics, science, computing, French, music, religious education, and physical education, which increases the likelihood of consistent implementation rather than dependence on one individual.

Early years planning is unusually transparent for a small school. Nursery and Reception themes are published as named units, and the early years page describes story-based circle time as part of personal, social and emotional development and understanding the world. The implication for families is practical: children are likely to experience a predictable rhythm, with language-rich teaching and repeated opportunities to embed vocabulary around a shared story or theme.

A further clue to teaching approach sits in everyday learning platforms referenced in newsletters. The school has used tools such as Maths Shed for practice, and planned a shift to ClassDojo for parent communication from January 2026. Neither platform is a guarantee of quality on its own, but both suggest a school that values routine, home-school alignment, and structured practice.

As a 3 to 11 primary, the main transition point is Year 6 to secondary. The school does not publish a destination list on its website, and in East Riding the secondary landscape can vary meaningfully depending on village, transport, and parental preference. The most reliable approach is to treat secondary transfer as part of the admissions plan rather than an afterthought.

Families considering St Martin’s should review East Riding of Yorkshire’s catchment and transport information alongside their preferred secondary options. FindMySchool’s Map Search can help you understand practical travel distances for the schools you are weighing up, which matters in rural areas where a short drive can translate into a long bus route.

For pupils, the most important readiness factor is usually not academic content, given the strength of KS2 outcomes, but the social and organisational shift. The school’s emphasis on responsibility and confidence in its early years and values statements suggests it is actively preparing children for that transition in a structured way.

Reception admissions are coordinated through East Riding of Yorkshire’s normal admissions round timetable. For the 2026 to 2027 admissions cycle (September 2026 start), the local authority timetable shows applications opened on 01 September 2025 and closed on 15 January 2026, with primary offer day on 16 April 2026. Since today is 26 January 2026, the on-time deadline for that cycle has already passed, and families should check the council guidance for late applications and waiting lists.

As a voluntary aided school, St Martin’s also publishes its own admissions arrangements. The school website states that the governing body determined the admissions arrangements for the 2026 to 2027 school year on 11 February 2025, and provides the policy document for families to review, which is particularly relevant where faith-based criteria may apply.

Demand, at least in the most recent dataset snapshot for primary entry, indicates pressure on places: 32 applications for 15 offers, recorded as oversubscribed, which equates to around 2.13 applications per place. That does not mean families should self-exclude, but it does mean you should treat timing and criteria as decisive.

If you are shortlisting locally, FindMySchool’s Local Hub comparison view is useful for putting this school’s outcomes alongside other nearby primaries using the same measurement framework, so you are not comparing unlike with unlike.

(Data above on applications and offers is from the provided dataset.)

Pastoral care in a school of this size often lives or dies on consistency. The staffing structure published on the website highlights two particularly relevant elements. First, there is named ELSA capacity, which usually indicates structured support for emotional literacy and day-to-day regulation strategies. Second, safeguarding leadership is clearly allocated and signposted for parents.

The most recent Ofsted report states that safeguarding arrangements are effective. That is a headline reassurance, but for parents it is most useful as a prompt to ask practical questions: how concerns are logged, how pupils learn about online safety and peer behaviour, and how the school works with families where attendance or wellbeing issues emerge.

For children with special educational needs, the school’s approach is signalled through named SENCo responsibility and a stated expectation that aspirations remain high for all pupils. The implication is that support is likely to be planned rather than improvised, although parents should still ask how support is resourced in mixed-age classes, which are common in smaller primaries.

The school’s extracurricular webpage is currently marked as awaiting content, so the best evidence comes from newsletters, which provide a more grounded picture of what children actually do across a year.

Performance and community events are a clear feature. Recent newsletters describe nativity productions for younger classes and church services where children from Reception to Year 6 participate. For families, that gives two practical implications: children get regular speaking and performance opportunities, and the faith element includes shared public events rather than staying within the classroom.

Enrichment appears rooted in the local area and in purposeful trips. A 2025 newsletter references a theatre production of The Wizard of Oz performed at the Tom Stoppard Theatre in Pocklington, and trips including Bridlington (with a Little Big Sing concert) and the National Mining Museum. These are not token outings. They support curriculum breadth, build cultural knowledge, and give pupils the experience of performing or learning in unfamiliar settings, which is often where confidence grows fastest.

Outdoor learning is another distinctive strand. The same newsletter describes Forest School sessions in local woodland, including a culminating teddy bears’ picnic, and the school’s early years planning includes themed units such as The Great Outdoors. The implication for younger pupils is more time learning through talk, play, and the physical environment, which can be particularly valuable for children who are not yet ready to sit still for long periods.

School hours are clearly published: 08:45 start and 15:15 finish, totalling 32.5 hours per week. Wraparound care is available through the school’s out-of-school club from 07:30 until 17:45.

Uniform guidance is unusually specific, including different colours for nursery compared with older year groups, and practical expectations such as wellies for poor weather and a change of indoor shoes. For parents, that signals a school that expects outdoor play to happen in all seasons.

Fangfoss is a rural village setting, so transport tends to be driven by family routines and local road connectivity. If you are weighing feasibility, check travel time at drop-off and pick-up, then stress-test wraparound hours against your working day rather than assuming the logistics will solve themselves.

• Oversubscription reality. The dataset records 32 applications for 15 offers for primary entry, and the school is marked oversubscribed. Families should treat admissions criteria and application timing as critical, not administrative details.

• Small cohort effects. Exceptional KS2 results are a strength, but small cohorts can make year-to-year percentages jump. Ask how the school sustains challenge for higher attainers and support for pupils who need consolidation across mixed-age classes.

• Faith and community rhythm. The Church of England character shows up in collective worship, church services, and values language. Families comfortable with that will likely enjoy the coherence; families seeking a fully secular approach should read the vision and admissions documentation carefully.

• Curriculum implementation work. Ofsted’s July 2023 report highlights that some subjects had recent curriculum changes and that leaders needed clearer milestones for judging the impact of initiatives. For parents, the practical step is to ask what has changed since 2023, especially in the wider curriculum beyond reading and mathematics.

St Martin’s stands out because its Key Stage 2 outcomes are in a rare bracket for any primary, particularly one of this size, and because wraparound hours are stronger than many rural peers. The school will suit families who value high academic expectations alongside a clear Church of England ethos and community-facing events. Competition for places is the main constraint, so families who want a realistic plan should treat admissions as a project with deadlines, not a last-minute form.