These are the five best state primary schools around Barnes and Mortlake. Located on the southern bend of the Thames they serve Barnes, Roehampton, Mortlake, and East Sheen. And they are within three miles of each other. They are all among the top 5% of schools in the country, as determined by the Schoolsmith Score. Four rank in the top 50 primary schools in England, by the same measure. The five schools are;
- St Osmund’s Catholic Primary School in Barnes,
- Barnes Primary School,
- East Sheen Primary School,
- St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary School in Mortlake, and
- Sheen Mount Primary School in East Sheen.
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; Barnes and Mortlake. And that can be found here.
Age range, gender mix, and faith
Each of the five schools educate children from age 4-5 (Reception) to age 11 (Year 6). In addition, Barnes Primary has a nursery class from age 3. Though please be aware that attendance at the nursery is no guarantee of a place in Reception.
The schools provides access to on-site out of hours care. All offer before-school care from 7.30/8.00am. Three of them, Barnes Primary, East Sheen Primary and Sheen Mount Primary also offer after school care to 6.00/6.15pm. And all use external contractors.
As far as gender mix goes, they are all co-educational, as indeed are almost all state primary schools.
St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary and St Osmund’s Catholic Primary are church schools. They are also Voluntary Aided schools, which means that faith may have a role to play in the admissions policy. The other three are community schools and they teach a mandatory RE curriculum.
Admissions
In terms of admissions policy, please refer to the individual schools’ websites. All operate a catchment system. Sheen Mount Primary and Barnes Primary are regularly oversubscribed on first preference choices. In fact, Barnes Primary is among the five most popular schools for applications in the borough of Richmond upon Thames.
The faithful have some priority at the two Catholic schools if they are oversubscribed for places in Reception.
Inspections
Ofsted inspectors consider four of these schools to be Outstanding and one Good, according to their latest inspections.
Barnes Primary, Sheen Mount Primary, East Sheen Primary, and St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary are the Outstanding schools. St Osmund’s Catholic Primary is the Good school.
Buildings and grounds
These Barnes and Mortlake primary schools occupy purpose-built facilities. In terms of aesthetics, two of them may be more pleasing to look at than the other three. St Osmund’s Catholic Primary, for example, occupies Victorian and 1960s extensions. And the buildings at East Sheen Primary include a contemporary two-storey classroom block.
None of them have extensive grounds, this being suburban London, but East Sheen Primary and Sheen Mount Primary have larger plots.
Class sizes and classes per year
These top Barnes and Mortlake primaries vary in size. Size can be important as it influences 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 are;
- 2 one-form entry schools; St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary School, and St Osmund’s Catholic Primary School.
- 1 two-form entry; Barnes Primary School.
- 2 three-form entry; East Sheen Primary School, and Sheen Mount Primary School.
Class sizes at each school are typically 30 pupils, but the two Catholic Schools can have smaller classes, averaging 23 to 25 pupils.
Facilities at Barnes and Mortlake state primary schools
They all have some specialist facilities to support their curricula. For sport, typical facilities include playgrounds and a school hall. In addition, East Sheen Primary has a grass field and a MUGA. Sheen Mount Primary has a field and an open-air pool for summer.
Beyond the multi-purpose hall, arts facilities are limited. East Sheen Primary and Sheen Mount Primary also have a music room. Barnes Primary has two halls, a music room and an art room. As for academic facilities there are libraries, environmental areas, and IT facilities. The two Sheen primaries also have a cookery room.
Overall, therefore, East Sheen Primary and Sheen Mount Primary have the best facilities. Barnes Primary gets an honourable mention for its arts facilities.
Parents play an important role
It’s often said that what makes pupils successful is the support of their parents. Not the style of school, its structure, or methods, but the parents. However true that is, the best primary schools in Barnes and Mortlake have unusually proactive parental support.
This support is often reflected in the activities and fundraising of the Parent Teacher Associations. In particular at St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary where the PTA raises over £20k per year to enhance the opportunities for pupils.
Academic curricula
All these schools teach a broad curriculum in line with the National Curriculum. The implementation of the curriculum varies. Some use more of a thematic topic approach, linking at least the humanities subjects to a termly theme. Barnes Primary teaches this way. It also has a project led theme week every term. The two Catholic schools also use linking themes, though more loosely.
East Sheen Primary and Sheen Mount Primary prefer to teach subjects separately, using ‘deep dives’ to develop pupils’ enquiry skills.
Of particular note is East Sheen Primary’s accreditation as a ‘Thinking School’. This method, embedded throughout the curriculum, encourages children to think reflectively, critically, and creatively. Techniques include thinking maps, thinking hats and habits of mind.
The curricula at the church schools emphasise Catholic social moralities. Particularly in lessons such as PSHE, 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, along with preparation for the first Holy Sacraments.
All the schools teach French as their main foreign language from Year 3. And they all offer some form of foreign language exposure from Reception or Year 1. That may be through assemblies (Barnes Primary) or formal lessons (St Mary Magdalene, St Osmund’s, East Sheen Primary). This is, after all, an area of London with a significant European National population. Before switching to French from Year 3, Sheen Mount Primary teaches Italian from Reception to Year 2.
All of the schools include some outdoor learning in their curricula for their youngest pupils, though it is less significant than schools in other areas.
They all offer plenty of educational trips, with residentials typically in Years 4 or 5 and Year 6. Sheen Mount Primary pupils have a residential trip in each of Years 3 to 6.
East Sheen Primary School’s STEM activities once earned it a national finalist placing in the Raspberry Pi competition.
Sport at Barnes and Mortlake state primary schools
Each school teaches between eleven and fifteen different sports, which is a high average for state primary schools.
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. All of these schools provide and encourage participation in a wide range of sports. But, on average, we should expect Sheen Mount Primary and East Sheen Primary to have the strongest teams.
However, only Barnes Primary has a sustained track record for sporting achievement in national competitions. And that’s for table tennis.
Pupils at three of these Barnes and Mortlake state primary schools benefit from a larger number of after-school activities than at most primary schools. There’s sport of course, but there are clubs for academic enrichment, hobbies, and the arts. Barnes Primary, East Sheen Primary, and Sheen Mount Primary all offer over a dozen arts, academic, and hobbies clubs.
The arts at Barnes and Mortlake 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 Barnes Primary, which also has an orchestra and incorporates more drama into the curriculum. It also has an Arts Week, a Film-Making Week and an Artist-in-Residence. Its commitment to the arts is recognised by its Artsmark Gold accreditation.
Academic results
This pick of primary schools in Barnes and Mortlake boast good academic results. On a four-year average, they are all in the top 7% of UK schools for attainment in Year 6 SATS. Which means they are consistently good, not just scoring well one year for a particularly able year group.
Of particular note are St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary and Barnes Primary which are in the top 2% nationwide. Sheen Mount Primary is in the top 3%. St Osmund’s Catholic Primary is in the top 5%, and East Sheen Primary is in the top 7%.
As for pupil progress, again measured as a four-year average from SATS results, they are all top quartile. But not as high as for attainment. Possibly because of the high level of ability of pupils on entry. St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary leads the value-added table, ranking in the top 12%.
Choosing the best state primary school in Barnes and Mortlake
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 rank in the best 5% of primary schools in the country. As I hope this note has shown, any one of them should be a preference. Four of these Barnes and Mortlake primary schools rank significantly higher. St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary, East Sheen Primary and Sheen Mount Primary rank in the top 50 English primary schools by Schoolsmith Score. Barnes Primary ranks 3rd in the country by the same measure.
| Rank | Best Barnes & Mortlake primary schools | Schoolsmith Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnes Primary School | 76 |
| 2= | East Sheen Primary School | 74 |
| 2= | Sheen Mount Primary School | 74 |
| 2= | St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary School | 74 |
| 5 | St Osmund’s Catholic Primary School | 70 |
See also the best state primary schools in Twickenham and Hampton, Richmond and Kew, Putney, and Chiswick
Why are these the best state primary schools in Barnes and Mortlake?
Schools that feature in these notes are those with the highest Schoolsmith Scores, not just in Barnes and Mortlake, 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…