Children's Support Service
Children's Support Service is a pupil referral unit in Wickford for boys and girls aged 5 to 16. It has 102 pupils and room for 198. About 46 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Alderney Gardens, Wickford, SS11 7JZ01268 552482css-essex.co.ukMrs Michelle Steadman head teacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 11 May 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Essex council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (93), Autistic spectrum disorder (5), language and communications needs (2), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 102 | 91 | 92 | 58 | 70 | 81 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 46% | 41% | 33% | 40% | 39% | 36% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 78% | 72% | 62% | 63% | 70% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 20% | 28% | 38% | 37% | 30% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 25 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 20% | 44% | 47% |
| Education | 16% | 31% | 38% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 4% | 13% | 9% |
| Not in education, work or training | 32% | 23% | 30% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runwell Community Primary School | Academy | 460 m | 362 | No overall grade 2024 | 20 | Compare |
| Wickford Primary School | Council | 880 m | 472 | Good 2023 | 25 | Compare |
| The Wickford Church of England School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 135 | Outstanding 2023 | 97 | Compare |
| North Crescent Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 216 | Good 2024 | 31 | Compare |
| Hilltop Infant School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 237 | No overall grade 2024 | 97 | Compare |
| Grange Primary School | Council | 1.1 miles | 311 | Good 2023 | 52 | Compare |
| Hilltop Junior School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 352 | Good 2022 | 73 | Compare |
| Beauchamps High School | Foundation | 1.2 miles | 1,486 | No overall grade 2025 | 60 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Children's Support Service a good school?
Children's Support Service doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in May 2023.
What is Children's Support Service's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Children's Support Service good at its last full inspection on 11 May 2023.
How many pupils does Children's Support Service have?
102 pupils aged 5 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 198 places, so it is 52% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Alderney Gardens, Wickford, SS11 7JZ
- Telephone
- 01268 552482
- Website
- www.css-essex.co.uk
- Head Teacher
- Mrs Michelle Steadman
- Type of school
- Pupil referral unit (Pupil referral unit, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 5-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Wickford North
- Constituency
- Rayleigh and Wickford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2010 (new provision)
- URN
- 136035 · LAESTAB 8811120 · UKPRN 10029211
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.