Schools and Playgroup

Located in the village of Spaldwick are two establishments – Spaldwick Community Primary School and Playtimes Playgroup – that are both rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. Older children in the village are served by Kimbolton School (an independent school) and Hinchingbrooke School.

Spaldwick Community Primary School

Rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted

View the Spaldwick School website

Spaldwick Community Primary School is located in Royston Avenue, Spaldwick. We are very proud of our school and it plays a key role in the local community.

Spaldwick School has about 170 pupils, aged four to 11, in discreet year group classes. Ofsted has rated Spaldwick Community Primary School as ‘outstanding’. Ofsted has reported that Spaldwick School provides an outstanding education for its pupils, with attainment high in Key Stage 2.

“Spaldwick is a warm, happy, busy school that provides an outstanding education for
its pupils and makes an excellent contribution to its community. As almost all parents and pupils acknowledged, the quality of teaching is outstanding. Spaldwick is a cohesive community where all feel that they belong and have a stake in all aspects of their school.” (Ofsted)

Spaldwick School gives an outstanding grounding to pupils, who go on to make excellent progress in senior school.

To get in contact with Spaldwick School, telephone the school office on (01480) 890371.

Playtimes Playgroup

Rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted

View the Playtimes Playgroup website

Playtimes Playgroup is an established playgroup, located within Spaldwick, which moved to these premises in 2002. It has a new purpose built building with a large playroom and adjacent outdoor play area.  In its October 2010 inspection, Ofsted considered that the quality of the early years provision was outstanding.

Hinchingbrooke Senior School

Rated ‘good’ and ‘improving’ with outstanding features in the 2011 Ofsted inspection. However, the most recent 2012 GCSE results were in the bottom 20% of similar schools’ results according to Ofsted.

View the Hinchingbrooke School website

While there are two senior schools in the Huntingdon area (St Peter’s School and Hinchingbrooke School), Spaldwick is in the catchment area of Hinchingbrooke School. Hinchingbrooke School is located on the outskirts of Huntingdon and has about 1931 pupils. Pupils from Spaldwick travel to Hinchingbrooke School by school bus.

In the May 2011 Ofsted inspection, Hinchingbrooke Senior School was ranked as a “good and improving school, with some outstanding features.” However, recently, there have been significant issues with exam results, as shown in the Ofsted results ‘dashboard’ below. In 2012, the school’s overall GCSE results were in the bottom 20% of similar schools’ results according to Ofsted.

Ofsted results dashboard for Hinchingbrooke School for 2012 (and 2011)

In comparison, overall GCSE results for St Peter’s School were better, although they were in the bottom 40% of similar schools’ results according to Ofsted.

A new Principal – Andrew Goulding – took up his post in September 2012. The school has had specialist sports status since 2005 and has achieved the Sports Mark and Investors in People standard. Hinchingbrooke School can expect an Ofsted inspection in the 2013/14 academic year.

Kimbolton School (independent) (Senior and Prep)

According to the Independent Schools Inspectorate, which last inspected Kimbolton school in 2011, Kimbolton is a successful school with many strengths. The quality of teaching and learning is good and attainment and progress are good.

Pupils are very happy, loyal to the school, support each other, have a sense of belonging and feel valued in themselves and as members of the community.

Pupils receive highly effective pastoral and academic support from a dedicated staff and benefit from a personal development programme which contributes to their qualities as young adults. View the Kimbolton School website.