Annie Lennard Primary School

Annie Lennard Primary is a caring and inclusive school where pupils feel happy, safe and well supported. The inspection found the school to be good across all key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Pupils respond well to the school’s high expectations, achieve well and are proud of their school. Relationships between staff, pupils and families are strong, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has a well-sequenced curriculum in most subjects, and reading has a high profile from the early years. Phonics is taught consistently well, and pupils who fall behind receive effective support to catch up. Behaviour is strong, attendance is carefully monitored and supported, and pupils benefit from a broad personal development programme that teaches them about health, safety, wellbeing and difference. Staff feel supported by leaders, and governors know the school well. There are still areas to improve. In a few subjects, especially where the curriculum is newer, assessment is not yet used sharply enough to identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge. In some subjects, teachers also do not adapt tasks well enough to meet the diverse needs of all pupils, including pupils with SEND, so some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school has been asked to strengthen staff expertise in adapting tasks and to ensure assessment is used effectively across all subjects.

Strengths

• Caring and supportive environment with positive relationships that help pupils feel happy and thrive.
• High expectations are met, and pupils achieve well and are proud of their school.
• Pupils are friendly, polite, respectful and behave well in lessons and at playtimes.
• The curriculum has been reviewed and sequenced so pupils build knowledge over time in most subjects.
• Reading has a high profile, with consistently strong phonics and effective catch-up support.
• Staff know pupils well, including those with SEND, and provide bespoke support for complex needs.
• Attendance is carefully monitored, and swift support helps most pupils attend well.
• Personal development is broad, covering health, safety, online risks, faiths and wellbeing.
• Staff feel supported, and governors know the school well and provide support and challenge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, teachers do not adapt tasks well enough to meet the diverse needs of all pupils.
• In less-developed subjects, assessment is not thorough enough, so gaps in pupils’ knowledge can be missed.
• Because of these assessment and adaptation gaps, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in a few subjects.

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 Annie Lennard Primary School attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Annie Lennard 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 Annie Lennard Primary School had 21.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.2% 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, 11.8% of pupils at Annie Lennard Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.6% 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 Annie Lennard Primary School received £7,907 and spent £7,708 for each of its 216 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £289,000 (£1,339 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Smethwick · Sandwell local authority: places and applications

What is Annie Lennard Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Annie Lennard Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Annie Lennard Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Annie Lennard Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Annie Lennard Primary School have?

Annie Lennard Primary School has 229 pupils on roll.

What age range does Annie Lennard Primary School cover?

Annie Lennard Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Annie Lennard Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Annie Lennard Primary School?

Annie Lennard Primary School is at The Oval, Smethwick, West Midlands, B67 6LE.