Park Spring Primary School

Park Spring Primary School is a larger-than-average primary in Leeds serving a relatively deprived community, with well above-average proportions of pupils receiving SEN support and above-average free school meals. This was a full section 5 inspection under Ofsted's renewed framework. Inspectors found a caring, inclusive school where safeguarding standards are met and pupils are generally happy, safe and respectful. Inclusion and pupils’ personal development and wellbeing are relative strengths: leaders identify needs quickly, support pupils with SEND effectively, provide internal provisions such as The Learning Zone and The Hive, and offer a wide range of enrichment and wellbeing opportunities. However, the school’s overall performance is uneven and requires improvement in several core areas. Achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, and leadership and governance are all identified as needing attention. Year 6 pupils do not attain as well as pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics, and many pupils have foundational gaps in handwriting, spelling, letter formation and sentence construction that are not addressed quickly enough. The writing curriculum is underdeveloped, teaching is not consistently adapted, assessment is not robust, and early years does not sequence key knowledge well enough to prepare all children for Year 1. Behaviour is generally calm but the revised policy is not applied consistently, and low-level disruption sometimes interrupts learning. Attendance is improving but remains below national averages, including persistent absence. Leaders’ strategic planning and quality assurance lack precision, so weaknesses are not always identified promptly. The school has clear strengths in care, inclusion and personal development, but needs rapid, sustained improvement in curriculum, teaching, assessment, behaviour and attendance to ensure pupils are ready for the next stage of education.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
• Leaders have established an inclusive approach and identify pupils’ needs quickly, including for vulnerable pupils.
• Support for pupils with SEND is effective, with appropriate training, resources and external partnerships.
• Internal provisions such as The Learning Zone and The Hive help pupils with SEND progress well.
• The personal development programme gives pupils secure knowledge of online safety, relationships, drugs and road and rail safety.
• Pupils have a wide range of enrichment opportunities, and participation is tracked for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Wellbeing is a high priority, including mental health support, peer support at breaktimes and improved outdoor play.
• The phonics programme is taught well, and Year 1 pupils attain in line with national expectations in the phonics screening check.
• Recent mathematics curriculum improvements are leading to notable gains and increasingly secure mathematical fluency.
• Leaders’ attendance approach is effective and attendance is beginning to improve, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Pupils are generally happy, confident, safe and respectful; bullying and discrimination are dealt with quickly and effectively.
• Early years staff know children and families well, helping children settle quickly and supporting personal, social and emotional development.
• Governors understand safeguarding and equalities duties, scrutinise additional funding and engage effectively with the school community.
• Staff are proud to work at the school, feel well supported, and leaders monitor workload and wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Year 6 pupils do not attain as well as other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Many pupils have gaps in foundational knowledge that are not addressed quickly enough.
• Pupils lack basic skills in letter formation, spelling and handwriting, which impedes progress across the curriculum.
• The writing curriculum is in its infancy and lacks precise sequencing to support early writers.
• The curriculum is not consistently taught well or adapted effectively to meet the needs of all pupils.
• Teachers do not always revisit prior learning, select the best activities or address misconceptions.
• Assessment systems are not robust, feedback is variable, and pupils do not routinely act on feedback.
• Early years curriculum does not identify and sequence key knowledge across all areas, leaving some children not ready for Year 1.
• The behaviour policy is not implemented effectively or consistently, and low-level disruption sometimes interrupts learning.
• Attendance remains below attendance in similar schools nationally, and persistent absence is above national.
• Leaders’ strategic planning and quality assurance lack precision, so weaknesses are not identified in a timely fashion.
• Leaders and governors do not have an accurate enough understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes remain below national averages over three years.
• Some pupils’ knowledge of faiths and cultures other than their own is superficial.

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 Park Spring Primary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.0% 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, 3.3% of pupils at Park Spring 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 Park Spring Primary School had 24.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 35.5% 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, 24.2% of pupils at Park Spring Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% 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 Park Spring Primary School received £8,637 and spent £9,254 for each of its 351 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £43,000 (£123 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 Park Spring Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Park Spring Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Park Spring Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Park Spring Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Park Spring Primary School have?

Park Spring Primary School has 355 pupils on roll.

What age range does Park Spring Primary School cover?

Park Spring Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 48% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Park Spring Primary School?

Park Spring Primary School is at Swinnow Lane, Leeds, LS13 4QT.