Vernon Park Primary School

Vernon Park Primary School is a happy, welcoming and caring school where pupils behave well and feel part of a supportive community. Behaviour and personal development are strong: pupils have positive relationships, take on meaningful leadership roles, receive high-quality pastoral support and benefit from a well-designed outdoor curriculum. Early reading is a clear priority, and the phonics programme is helping pupils make secure progress. Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported effectively, including within the school’s SEN unit. Safeguarding is effective, and attendance is improving through a sharp focus from leaders. The main concerns relate to the quality of education and leadership. In some subjects, and in parts of the early years, the essential knowledge pupils should learn has not been defined clearly enough, so teaching does not consistently build pupils’ knowledge as intended. Curriculum implementation also varies, and staff do not always use assessment well enough to identify misconceptions and gaps in learning. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they should across the curriculum. Leadership requires improvement because oversight of curriculum effectiveness has not been sufficiently robust, meaning school priorities have not been sharply focused on the most significant areas for improvement. This inspection was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first since 2014, when it was judged outstanding under the previous inspection framework. The school has since appointed a new headteacher and deputy headteacher, and it currently has no overall effectiveness grade under the post-September 2024 arrangements.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel part of a caring community and have positive relationships with peers and staff.
• Behaviour and attitudes are good; pupils behave well in lessons and around school.
• High-quality pastoral support helps pupils and families and promotes safety, health and activity.
• Pupils take on meaningful leadership roles, including as restorative champions.
• The school provides a well-designed outdoor curriculum that pupils enjoy.
• Early reading is a priority and the phonics programme supports secure progress in decoding and blending.
• The school works closely with parents to support reading, including through read-together mornings.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported effectively, including in the SEN unit.
• The school has a calm and orderly atmosphere with clear rules and routines.
• Personal development is strong, including learning about diversity, respect and online safety.
• Attendance is improving because of the school’s sharp focus and tailored support.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and feel leaders consider their workload.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, the curriculum does not make the essential knowledge clear enough for pupils to learn.
• In parts of the early years, important knowledge children should learn has not been clearly defined.
• Some areas of the curriculum are not delivered as the school intends.
• Staff do not use assessment strategies well enough to identify misconceptions and gaps in pupils’ learning.
• Leaders’ oversight of curriculum effectiveness is not sufficiently robust.
• School development priorities have not been sharply focused on the most significant areas for improvement.
• The quality of education requires improvement.
• Leadership and management require improvement.
• Early years provision requires improvement.

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 Vernon Park Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.8% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Vernon 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 Vernon Park Primary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.5% 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, 22.8% of pupils at Vernon Park Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 8 pupils.

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 Vernon Park Primary School received £7,247 and spent £7,241 for each of its 302 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £62,000 (£205 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 Stockport · Stockport local authority: places and applications

What is Vernon Park Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Vernon Park Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Vernon Park Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Vernon Park Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Vernon Park Primary School have?

Vernon Park Primary School has 312 pupils on roll.

What age range does Vernon Park Primary School cover?

Vernon Park Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 39% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Vernon Park Primary School?

Vernon Park Primary School is at Peak Street, Stockport, Cheshire, SK1 2NF.