Larkspur Community Primary School

Larkspur Community Primary School is a caring and inclusive school where strong relationships and effective safeguarding help pupils feel safe and valued. Pupils behave well, enjoy school and benefit from a broad personal development offer, including leadership roles and a range of experiences. Reading and phonics are clear strengths, and pupils with SEND are generally well supported, including through the bespoke Maple Classroom provision. However, the quality of education requires improvement. Although curriculum knowledge is now identified in most subjects, learning activities vary too much between subjects and year groups, and pupils do not consistently secure the knowledge they need. Writing is a particular weakness, especially for pupils at an early stage of writing, and standards in mathematics remain too low for some pupils over time. Early years provision also requires improvement because activities and adult interactions are not always closely matched to children’s learning needs. Leadership and management require improvement. The new headteacher, who joined in September 2024, is developing the school’s understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, but governors have not challenged leaders effectively enough, contributing to a decline in education quality. Attendance and punctuality remain ongoing concerns. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the school serves a community with higher-than-average pupil premium eligibility and high pupil mobility.

Strengths

• Strong relationships between staff, pupils and families create a caring school community.
• Pupils feel safe, valued and included, and they enjoy coming to school.
• Pupils behave well, move calmly around school and treat each other with respect.
• The personal development curriculum prepares pupils well for life beyond school.
• Reading is a strength, with a well-ordered phonics programme and a strong reading culture.
• Pupils with SEND are supported to access the curriculum, including through the nurturing Maple Classroom.
• The school provides a range of experiences and leadership responsibilities that broaden pupils’ horizons.
• Staff feel supported and there is a strong team culture.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement, with learning activities varying between subjects and year groups.
• Pupils do not consistently secure the curriculum knowledge they need for the next stage of education.
• The writing curriculum is weak, especially for pupils at an early stage of writing.
• Standards in mathematics remain too low for some pupils over time, despite initial improvements.
• Early years activities and adult interactions are not always closely matched to children’s learning needs.
• Some pupils do not attend school often enough or arrive on time.
• Governors have not challenged and held school leaders to account effectively enough.
• Leadership and management require improvement, with a decline in the quality of education.

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 Larkspur Community Primary School attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.0% 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, 2.5% of pupils at Larkspur Community 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 Larkspur Community Primary School had 18.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.7% 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, 39.6% of pupils at Larkspur Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 Larkspur Community Primary School received £9,566 and spent £8,940 for each of its 142 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £109,000 (-£767 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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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Gateshead · Gateshead local authority: places and applications

What is Larkspur Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Larkspur Community Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Larkspur Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Larkspur Community Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Larkspur Community Primary School have?

Larkspur Community Primary School has 154 pupils on roll.

What age range does Larkspur Community Primary School cover?

Larkspur Community Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 42% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Larkspur Community Primary School?

Larkspur Community Primary School is at Beacon Lough East, Larkspur Primary School, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, NE9 6SS.