Sutton has more high performing state primary schools than most areas. Eleven are among the top 15% of schools in the country, as determined by the Schoolsmith Score. They are;
- Nonsuch Primary School in Stoneleigh,
- Westbourne Primary School in Sutton,
- Cuddington Croft Primary School in Cheam,
- Cheam Fields Primary Academy in Cheam,
- St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary School in Cheam,
- Cheam Park Farm Primary Academy in Cheam,
- St Mary‘s Roman Catholic Junior School in Carshalton,
- Muschamp Primary School in Carshalton,
- Stanley Park Junior School in Carshalton,
- Barrow Hedges Primary School in Carshalton, and
- The Federation of St Elphege’s Catholic Schools in Wallington.
The differences between primary schools are less obvious than prep schools, and deliberately so. State education is designed such that all children should receive the same curriculum irrespective of where they are taught, and who is teaching them. So, to differentiate, parents have traditionally looked to SATS results and Ofsted gradings. Beyond that, there is also a commonly held belief that Church schools are ‘better’ schools. That’s pretty much it. Hopefully, this comparison might shed a little more light.
There is also a partner review for prep schools in the same area; Carshalton, Cheam, Stoneleigh, Sutton, and Wallington. And that can be found here.
Age range, gender mix, and faith
Eight of the primary schools educate children from age 3 to 11. Which means that they have a nursery class in addition to a Reception class. Though please be aware that attendance at the nursery is no guarantee of a place in Reception.
There are three exceptions. Cheam Park Farm Primary has no nursery class, starting at age 4 with a Reception class. And St Mary’s Roman Catholic Junior and Stanley Park Junior are junior schools, starting at age 7.
Apart from Westbourne Primary, all the schools provide access to out of hours care from 7.45/8.00am to 5.15/6.30pm. And all use external contractors on-site to provide that childcare.
As far as gender mix goes, they are all co-educational, as indeed are almost all state primary schools.
Among the eleven there are three church schools, each of them Catholic; St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary, St Mary’s Roman Catholic Junior, and St Elphege’s Catholic Schools. They are Voluntary Aided schools, which means that faith may have a role to play in the admissions policy. Though the other eight are nominally secular schools, they teach a mandatory RE curriculum.
Admissions
In terms of admissions policy, please refer to the individual schools’ websites. All operate a catchment system.
But the faithful have some priority at the Catholic schools if the schools are oversubscribed for places in Reception.
The regularly oversubscribed schools are Barrow Hedges, Cheam Park Farm, St Cecilia’s, Cuddington Croft and Westbourne Primary. Furthermore, Nonsuch Primary is among the five most oversubscribed schools in Sutton.
Inspections
Ofsted inspectors consider three of these schools to be Outstanding and eight Good, according to their most recent inspections.
The Outstanding schools are Cheam Park Farm Primary, Westbourne Primary, and St Elphege’s Catholic Schools.
Buildings and grounds
Sutton primary schools occupy purpose-built facilities in residential areas. They have outdoor play areas and playgrounds. But not extensive grounds. Cheam Park Primary is split over two sites, for infants and juniors.
Class sizes and classes per year
Collectively, these Sutton primary schools are larger than average. But there is a range. Six of them are three-form entry, but one is one-form entry. Size can affect the look and feel of a school. And larger schools tend to have more facilities, though not necessarily in proportion to the number of pupils.
There is;
- 1 one-form entry school; Nonsuch Primary.
- 3 two-form entry; Cheam Fields Primary, Cuddington Croft Primary, St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary.
- 6 three-form entry; Barrow Hedges Primary, Muschamp Primary, St Mary’s Roman Catholic Junior, Stanley Park Junior, St Elphege’s Catholic Schools, Westbourne Primary.
- 1 four-form entry; Cheam Park Farm Primary.
Class sizes at each school are typically 30 pupils.
Facilities at Sutton state primary schools
They all have some specialist facilities to support their curricula. For sport that includes playgrounds, and a school hall. Some have grass fields, some have a MUGA. Cheam Fields Primary and Stanley Park Junior even have a covered outdoor pool.
Beyond the multi-purpose hall, arts facilities are limited. Cuddington Croft Primary, however, has a drama studio. As for academic facilities there are libraries, environmental areas, and IT facilities. Westbourne Primary has a ‘science and technology area’, and Barrow Hedges Primary has a ‘technology hub’.
Overall, Cheam Fields Primary, Stanley Park Junior, and Westbourne Primary have the widest range of specialist facilities. St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary, Muschamp Primary, and St Mary’s Roman Catholic Junior have the fewest.
Muschamp Primary has a Speech, Language and Communication Resource Centre for 52 children.
Academic curricula
All these schools teach a broad curriculum in line with the National Curriculum. And they all use a topic approach, particularly with the humanities subjects, to develop pupils’ enquiry skills. Topics can be subject specific or linking different subjects. At Nonsuch Primary and St Mary’s RC Primary topics tend to be within discrete subjects. Whereas subjects at Stanley Park Junior and St Elphege’s Catholic Schools are more closely linked by a cross-curricular topic.
Five schools are academies; Barrow Hedges Primary, Cheam Fields Primary, Cheam Park Farm Primary, Cuddington Croft Primary, and Westbourne Primary. As such they may have more flexibility in the school day and curriculum. Also, for the first four, as members of multi-academy trusts they may have access to more specialist teaching resources.
Most of the schools include some element of outdoor learning in their curricula, particularly for their youngest pupils.
Cheam Park Farm Primary also integrates environmental learning into its curriculum and has an Eco Schools Green Flag accreditation. It has recently introduced financial education into its curriculum too.
The educational experience will be different at the three Catholic schools compared to the non-religious schools. Curricula at Catholic schools emphasise Catholic social morality. Particularly in lessons such as PSHE and Citizenship, and in assemblies. RE, naturally, plays a prominent role in the curriculum as a core subject along with English and maths. And there is usually daily worship.
All but one of the Sutton primary schools teach French from Year 3. Cuddington Croft Primary teaches Spanish.
Each of the schools offers educational trips. Cheam Park Farm and Westbourne Primary School also have the most residential trips.
Sport at Sutton state primary schools
Each school teaches around 10 or 12 different sports. There’s slightly more variety at Cheam Park Farm Primary and Westbourne Primary. Moreover, at Barrow Hedges, Stanley Park, Muschamp Primary and Westbourne Primary there has been a concerted effort to improve the variety and participation in sport. As a result, Barrow Hedges and Westbourne Primary have Schools Games Mark Platinum accreditations, Muschamp and Stanley Park have Gold.
Pupils at these eleven Sutton primary schools benefit from a larger number of after-school activities than at most primary schools. There are clubs for academic enrichment and hobbies, arts, and sport.
The size of the primary school, in terms of number of pupils, has a bearing on the strength of their sports teams. The idea being that larger schools have a larger pool to select from. In which case we should expect Cheam Park Farm Primary to have the strongest teams. But since there are also six three-form entry schools the difference may not be significant.
None of the schools has a sustained track record for sporting achievement in national competitions.
The arts at Sutton state primary schools
The schools all promote engagement with the arts on an individual and ensemble basis. For example, there is art, a choir, instrument learning, and dramatic performances at each school. Arts provision is probably best at Barrow Hedges, Cheam Fields Primary, Stanley Park Junior, and Westbourne Primary. These schools do more in and out of the classroom.
Reflecting their commitment to the arts, Stanley Park and Westbourne Primary have Artsmark Gold accreditations.
Academic results
These Sutton primary schools boast good academic results. On a four-year average, they are all in the top 25% of UK schools for attainment in Year 6 SATS. Six of them are in the top 10%. Which means they are consistently good, not just scoring well one year for a particularly able year group.
Of particular note are Westbourne Primary and Cheam Park Primary who make the top 5%. Also, Stanley Park Junior is in the top 6%, Cuddington Croft Primary the top 7%. St Elphege’s Catholic and St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary make the top 8%.
As for pupil progress, again measured on four-year average SATS results, all are above average. Four schools are in the top 20% with Westbourne Primary ranking in the top 5% nationwide.
Choosing the best state primary school in Sutton
The freedom to choose a state school is somewhat limited as applicants need to live within the school’s catchment area. But there may be a choice of more than one. Most Education Authorities offer the opportunity to select preferred schools, albeit from a limited list.
These schools are all among the top 15% best primary schools in the country. As I hope this note has shown, any one of them should be a preference. Five of these Sutton primary schools rank higher. Stanley Park Junior, St Elphege’s Catholic Schools, and Cuddington Croft Primary rank in the top 2-3% of primary schools. Cheam Park Farm Primary ranks 12th in the country. Westbourne Primary ranks 3rd.
See also the best state primary schools in Epsom and Leatherhead, Croydon, Purley, Wimbledon
Why are these the best state primary schools in Sutton?
Schools that feature in these notes are those with the highest Schoolsmith Scores, not just in Sutton, but nationwide. The Schoolsmith Score is an objective score that accounts for 50 different aspects of schooling, grouped into 5 broad categories. You can read more about them from the links below, and the Schoolsmith Score here.
- their achievements; academic, sporting and artistic,
- the breadth of the education they offer,
- the quality of teaching,
- their facilities,
- their look and feel.
Need more help?
By now you might be wondering what you should be thinking about when choosing a school? It happens to everyone. Why not try my 7 one minute quizzes for those starting their school search? Wood, trees, and all that…