Mount Primary School

Mount Primary School was inspected in June 2026 under section 5. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils generally feel safe and enjoy school. Attendance is a clear strength: it is above national average and persistent absence has fallen, with disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND attending more regularly than similar pupils nationally. Pupils benefit from a broad curriculum, a wide range of free clubs and trips, and responsibilities such as reading champions and play leaders; pastoral support is effective and valued. However, the inspection found that most areas require improvement, including achievement, behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development. Pupils' outcomes are uneven. National test results are broadly in line with averages, but disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND do not achieve as well as they should, and too few pupils achieve highly across the wider curriculum. Teaching varies: teachers do not consistently correct basic errors or check understanding, some reading books do not match pupils' phonics knowledge, and the most able are not challenged enough. Behaviour is inconsistent, with some disruption and bullying not always managed quickly or effectively. In the early years, staff interactions do not consistently build children's language, and SEND support is not applied consistently in every classroom. Leaders have begun to identify priorities, adapt the curriculum for mixed-age classes and improve some subjects, but they do not check the impact of their work precisely enough. Some staff feel unheard or insufficiently trained, and governors need to hold leaders more sharply to account. The personal development curriculum lacks coherence, leaving pupils' knowledge of healthy relationships, consent, difference and life in modern Britain uneven. The school is also managing falling pupil numbers and uses one unregistered alternative provision. Next steps focus on consistent SEND provision, correcting errors and checking understanding, challenging the most able, managing behaviour and bullying, strengthening PSHE, improving early years language, and ensuring staff are valued and trained.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe.
• Attendance is above the national average, and persistent absence has decreased.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND attend more regularly than similar pupils nationally.
• Pastoral support is effective, responsive and valued by pupils.
• Pupils enjoy a broad range of free clubs, trips and responsibilities, and most take part.
• Pupils take pride in roles such as reading champions, play leaders, school council and eco team.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding well to broaden disadvantaged pupils' experiences.
• Leaders identify SEND needs quickly and work closely with families and professionals.
• Extra support in mathematics often helps pupils to catch up.
• Early years children behave well, take turns and play cooperatively.
• Phonics teaching is systematic in the early years, and staff teach handwriting effectively.
• Some teaching is clear, with strong explanations, precise questioning and accurate subject vocabulary.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, and leaders understand where it needs to improve.
• Leaders use alternative provision carefully and place pupils in their best interests.
• Governors support leaders, ensure resources are used and safeguarding duties are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve as well as they could, and progress is uneven across the school.
• Teachers do not consistently correct basic errors in handwriting and spelling, so pupils repeat mistakes.
• Some pupils in key stage 1 do not become fluent readers because reading books do not match their phonics knowledge.
• The most able pupils are not challenged well enough to deepen and extend their learning.
• Leaders do not have a clear enough picture of how well different groups, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, achieve.
• Behaviour varies across the school because staff do not apply the school's behaviour approach consistently.
• A small number of pupils behave in a disruptive or sometimes violent way, affecting others' learning.
• Bullying is not always dealt with quickly or effectively enough.
• Curriculum and teaching quality varies, and in some subjects the curriculum is not well ordered.
• Teaching does not consistently build on what pupils already know or check understanding closely enough.
• Early years staff do not use interactions well enough to develop children's language.
• Some early years learning activities lack clear purpose and do not move learning forward.
• SEND support strategies are not consistently applied in every classroom, so provision varies.
• Some pupils with SEND cannot access learning or build knowledge as well as they should.
• Leaders do not check the impact of their work precisely enough, limiting understanding of what is working.
• Some staff feel leaders do not listen to them or consider workload and wellbeing carefully enough.
• Some staff do not receive the training they need, and not all attend key meetings.
• The personal development curriculum lacks coherent impact, and PSHE is not taught consistently.
• Pupils' knowledge of healthy relationships, consent and difference is limited and uneven.
• Some pupils describe unkind behaviour linked to appearance, disability, religion or race, and say groups are not treated equally.
• Opportunities to learn about life beyond the local area and different cultures are limited.
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes are below national averages.
• Governors have not had sufficient impact, as issues remain.

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 Mount Primary School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.8% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Mount 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 Mount Primary School had 27.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.9% 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, 15.7% of pupils at Mount Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.0% 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 Mount Primary School received £7,536 and spent £7,813 for each of its 300 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £95,000 (-£317 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 Mount Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Mount Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Mount Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Mount Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Mount Primary School have?

Mount Primary School has 300 pupils on roll.

What age range does Mount Primary School cover?

Mount Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Mount Primary School?

Mount Primary School is at Mount Pleasant Road, Wirral, Merseyside, CH45 5HU.