Great Sampford Community Primary School
Community primary school in Saffron Walden (Essex).
Location
iSchool location from Get Information about Schools. Nearby schools are coloured by phase. Open Map+ for a full-screen map with neighbourhood deprivation (England only).About
We are a vibrant and welcoming rural primary school based in North Essex. With around 90 pupils, our class sizes are small, providing a focused and productive learning environment which can meet the individual needs of all our pupils. Our vision is to engage and inspire through creative teaching.
We aim to ignite a lifelong love of learning as well as equip our children with the skills to enable them to be self-motivated, independent, happy, confident and respectful learners. We aim to create a learning environment where every child is valued, nurtured and challenged through the highest standard of teaching.
Our school is at the heart of our community, and we pride ourselves on working collaboratively and in close partnership with parents and carers, governors and the village community to ensure every child develops the skills they require to be successful, both now as children, and in the future. Go on a virtual tour around our wonderful school.
We have fantastic classrooms, work spaces and outdoor areas. There are climbing frames, an outdoor gym, an all-weather astro court, Peters Pod (wellbeing space), a garden and a sensory area for den building and forest schools.
In the school’s own words, from the school website.
Enrichment
3 activitiesiFound on the school website by WhatSchool. Not verified by Governance Register; the school website is the authority.- Computing
- Music
- Forest School
Key facts
- URN
- 114970
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- Does not have a sixth form
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Local authority
- Essex
- Constituency
- Braintree
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
Governing body (11 current, 2 former)
Maintained school governing body.
Leadership
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs Ann Wolstenholme | Chair of Governors | Interim Executive Board | since 2026 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
| Mr Andrew Shelley Former | Chair of Governors | Elected by parents | since 2018 · term ended 2026 |
Full governing body
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Kathy Swain | Governor | Elected by school staff | since 2026 · until 2030 |
| Mr Nathan Christie | Governor | Parent appointed by GB/board due to no election candidates | since 2025 · until 2029 |
| Miss Kristie Fleming | Governor | Parent appointed by GB/board due to no election candidates | since 2025 · until 2029 |
| Mrs Kara Laing | Governor | Nominated by LA and appointed by GB | since 2025 · until 2029 |
| Mrs Clare Gill | Governor | Elected by parents | since 2024 · until 2028 |
| Mrs Lucy Willingale | Governor | Elected by parents | since 2024 · until 2028 |
| Ms Tamara Ludlow | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2023 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
| Mrs Ann Wolstenholme | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2023 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
| Mr Robin Griffiths | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2019 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
| Miss Amy Reis | Governor | Ex-officio by virtue of office as headteacher/principal | since 2018 · until 2026 ends 2026 |
| Miss Kathy Swain Former | Governor | Elected by school staff | since 2021 · term ended 2025 |
Source: Department for Education, Get Information about Schools (governance records, as at 1 November 2026). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Names are shown as published; there are no addresses or contact details. Current and former are worked out from term end dates when the page loads. Object or ask for removal · Report an issue with this record