Harpley CofE VC Primary School, King's Lynn
Data last updated 11 Sept 2026
Location
Estimated admission likelihood based on school density and oversubscription data
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 8 months agoReport card - no overall grade (new Ofsted framework from Sep 2024)
Ofsted Insights
What This School Does Well
Harpley is a caring school at the heart of its village community where pupils genuinely feel safe and happy to come to school. The school excels at supporting pupils' wellbeing and personal development, with particularly effective pastoral work that helps children regulate their emotions and develop resilience. All pupils - including those with special needs and disadvantaged children - are fully included and supported to access school life and wider opportunities.
Key Strengths
- Inclusion is a strength - the school knows pupils well and provides tailored support for those with special needs and disadvantaged pupils
- Safeguarding is effective with an open culture where pupils feel safe and concerns are actively managed
- Pastoral work and wellbeing support is particularly strong, helping pupils develop resilience and emotional regulation
- Behaviour has improved significantly with a new approach that focuses on understanding pupils and building positive relationships
- Attendance is now improving as leaders take action to tackle absence
Areas for Improvement
- Too few pupils achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by Year 6
- Teaching is inconsistent across the school, with some areas lacking clear explanations and well-matched tasks for pupils
- The curriculum is more developed in some subjects (like mathematics) than others
- Gaps in key knowledge (such as times tables and sentence construction) are not being identified and addressed quickly enough
- Governors have not previously provided enough challenge to school leaders, though this is starting to change
Safeguarding
Safeguarding standards are met - leaders have established an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and pupils feel safe.
Extracurricular Activities
Sports clubs, music tuition, bi-annual residential trips with adventurous sports, values leader roles in local community (leaflet drops, fundraising), collective worship leadership, church services, fundraising for local charities
Harpley CofE VC Primary School is a village school where pupils feel safe and cared for, with warm relationships between staff and pupils. However, too few pupils are achieving the expected standard by the end of Year 6, and there is inconsistency in how well the curriculum is taught across the school.
At a Glance
20.0%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2025/26KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has declined from 71% to 50%. Maths has declined from 71% to 50%. Writing has declined from 43% to 33%.
Class Sizes
18.7
Avg class size
12.0
Infant (KS1)
32.0
KS2
3
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2024/25 academic year
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
89%
Available places
50 pupils
56 capacity
6 spare places available
Area Demand Pressure - King's Lynn
Based on MHCLG housing supply data for King's Lynn
Admissions Demand - Norfolk
Places available
9,822
Applications
7,691
Got 1st preference
95.8%
Got preferred school
98.9%
Primary admissions across Norfolk (2025/26)
Inspection History(7)
House Prices
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SEN Provision
How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.
Pupil Demographics
The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.
Teachers & Staff
Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.
School Funding
Annual funding per pupil, total budget, pupil premium grants, and how the school's resources compare to similar schools nationally.
Pupil Absence2024/25
6.58478%
Overall absence
26.66667%
Persistent absence
45
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
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