Elm Park Primary School

Elm Park Primary School is a larger-than-average primary and part of The Aspire Learning Federation. Inspectors found most areas operating at a strong standard: attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are described as safe, well behaved, engaged and proud of their work. The school is highly inclusive, with effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, strong early language and phonics provision, and high staff morale. Many pupils enter with lower-than-typical starting points, especially in language and communication, and the proportion with EHC plans is well above average. Achievement and curriculum and teaching are graded at the expected standard. Published outcomes have varied and are now broadly in line with national averages, though 2024/25 figures were below national in combined reading, writing and mathematics and in mathematics alone. Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes remain below national in several measures, with large gaps. The report also notes that writing fluency and accuracy are less consistent, and teaching does not consistently check pupils' understanding, so misconceptions are not always addressed swiftly. The school has clear next steps: ensure teaching consistently checks understanding and adopt a consistent approach to handwriting and transcription. Given the strong foundations in behaviour, inclusion, early years and leadership, the school is well placed to address these remaining inconsistencies.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Pupils behave very well and show positive attitudes to learning.
• Attendance is managed robustly and improves for all groups, including SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Early years provision is highly effective, particularly in communication, language and vocabulary.
• Inclusion is a significant strength, with well-tailored support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Leadership and governance have an accurate understanding of the school and have driven improvements.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is broad, ambitious and tailored to pupils' needs.
• Staff morale is very high, with leaders prioritising wellbeing and workload.
• Pupils read with increasing confidence because phonics is taught systematically.
• Pupils with SEND make secure progress from their starting points.
• Pastoral support and work with external agencies are strong.
• Pupils access a wide range of clubs, visits and leadership opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is broadly in line with national expectations but published outcomes in 2024/25 were below national in combined reading, writing and mathematics and in mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are below national in several measures and gaps remain large.
• Writing fluency and accuracy are less consistent across the school.
• Teaching does not consistently check pupils' understanding, so misconceptions can persist.
• Handwriting and transcription are not taught consistently enough to secure fluent, accurate writing.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Elm Park Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.7% of pupils at Elm Park Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Elm Park Primary School had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.5% of pupils at Elm Park Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Elm Park Primary School received £8,525 and spent £10,226 for each of its 419 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £1,530,000 (-£3,651 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Elm Park Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Elm Park Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Elm Park Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Elm Park Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Elm Park Primary School have?

Elm Park Primary School has 419 pupils on roll.

What age range does Elm Park Primary School cover?

Elm Park Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Elm Park Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Elm Park Primary School?

Elm Park Primary School is at South End Road, Elm Park, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 5UA.