St John's CofE First School
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St John's CofE First School is a converter academy in Stafford for boys and girls aged 2 to 9. It has 81 pupils, 6 more than it has places for. About 10 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 27 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 26% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in June 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Whiteoaks Drive, Bishopswood, Stafford, ST19 9AH01785 840318stjohnsbishopswood.orgMiss Emma Challiner acting headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 2 June 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 15 June 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Good |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
13 places were empty (17% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 16% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
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.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (4), language and communications needs (3), Specific learning difficulty (2), Hearing impairment (1), Physical disability (1), Severe learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 81 | 76 | 78 | 76 | 74 | 73 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 10% | 11% | 13% | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 18% | 19% | 12% | 12% | 8% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 1% | 4% | 0% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.3% 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 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 5.7% | 6.4% | 6.3% | 5.5% | 3.0% | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.9% | 5.5% | 4.7% | 5.0% | 2.7% | 3.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 7.4% | 17.7% | 18.3% | 8.5% | 6.5% | 6.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's CofE First Academy | Academy | 2.5 miles | 84 | Good 2023 | 34 | Compare |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 2.8 miles | 91 | Report card 2026 | 75 | Compare |
| Brewood Middle CofE Academy | Academy | 3.0 miles | 422 | Good 2024 | 56 | Compare |
| St Mary and St Chad CofE First School | Academy | 3.0 miles | 172 | Good 2023 | 40 | Compare |
| St Mary's CofE Primary School | Church of England | 3.4 miles | 195 | Good 2024 | 73 | Compare |
| Albrighton Primary School & Nursery | Academy | 3.8 miles | 344 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Nicholas Church of England First School | Academy | 4.1 miles | 339 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Codsall Middle School | Academy | 4.6 miles | 516 | Good 2019 | 74 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares St John's CofE First School with the 47 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 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 47 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than St John's CofE First School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrow 1618 CofE Free School | Free school | 12.3 miles | 93 | Good 2023 | 77 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 27 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 27% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 11 to 57. 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 | -0.07 | Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well below | -0.31 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.09 | 2024/25; 54 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 St John's CofE First School a good school?
The figures are weak. St John's CofE First School scores 27 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 26% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 11 to 57, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is St John's CofE First School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 2 June 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does St John's CofE First School have?
81 pupils aged 2 to 9 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 75 places, so it is 108% full.
Is St John's CofE First School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 13 places were empty in 2024/25 (17% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at St John's CofE First School?
Pupils were in school 94.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 7% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at St John's CofE First School?
The average class had 21.7 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class 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
- Whiteoaks Drive, Bishopswood, Stafford, ST19 9AH
- Telephone
- 01785 840318
- Website
- stjohnsbishopswood.org
- Acting Headteacher
- Miss Emma Challiner
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-9, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Lichfield
- Multi-academy trust
- Penk Valley Academy Trust (7 schools)
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Ward
- Brewood, Coven & Blymhill
- Constituency
- Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2018 (academy converter)
- URN
- 145380 · LAESTAB 8603030 · UKPRN 10066645
- Formerly
- St John's CofE (C) First School
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.