Poppyfield Primary Academy
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Poppyfield Primary Academy is a free school in Cannock for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 236 pupils and every place is taken. About 14 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 70 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 63% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.
Bishop Street, Hednesford, Cannock, WS12 4RY01543 758030poppyfieldacademy.org.ukMrs Rebecca Scordis headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 6 February 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
About 31 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have grown by 99% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
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 Staffordshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 30.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 30.0 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (9), emotional and mental health (7), Autistic spectrum disorder (5), language and communications needs (5), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (1), Severe learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 236 | 208 | 177 | 146 | 90 | 60 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 14% | 13% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 10% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 3% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 7% | 6% | 3% | 2% | 5% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.1% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 3.9% | 4.7% | 5.1% | 7.5% | 2.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.0% | 3.3% | 3.7% | 6.2% | 2.0% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.0% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 7.9% | 12.8% | 11.1% | 19.7% | 6.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.3 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chadsmoor Community Infants and Nursery School | Council | 460 m | 146 | Good 2024 | 7 | Compare |
| West Hill Primary School | Council | 490 m | 375 | Good 2024 | 46 | Compare |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 790 m | 223 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Chadsmoor CofE (VC) Junior School | Church of England | 0.6 miles | 221 | Good 2023 | 57 | Compare |
| St Peter's CofE Primary Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 473 | Good 2022 | 28 | Compare |
| Redhill Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 199 | Not inspected | 59 | Compare |
| Pye Green Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 438 | Good 2022 | 53 | Compare |
| Moorhill Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 274 | Good 2021 | 7 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Poppyfield Primary Academy with the 49 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 70 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 70% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 42 to 87. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | in line | +0.03 | Ofsted grade, 2.6 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | +0.03 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.19 | 2024/25; 152 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Poppyfield Primary Academy a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Poppyfield Primary Academy scores 70 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 63% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 42 to 87, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Poppyfield Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Poppyfield Primary Academy good at its last full inspection on 6 February 2024.
How many pupils does Poppyfield Primary Academy have?
236 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 236 places, so it is 100% full.
Is Poppyfield Primary Academy oversubscribed?
Probably not. 31 places were empty in 2024/25 (15% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Poppyfield Primary Academy?
Pupils were in school 96.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 8% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Poppyfield Primary Academy?
The average class had 29.5 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 13% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Bishop Street, Hednesford, Cannock, WS12 4RY
- Telephone
- 01543 758030
- Website
- www.poppyfieldacademy.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rebecca Scordis
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Victoria Academies Trust (11 schools)
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Ward
- Hednesford Green Heath
- Constituency
- Cannock Chase
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 2 September 2019 (new provision)
- URN
- 147082 · LAESTAB 8602037 · UKPRN 10083794
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.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 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.