Redlands Primary School

Redlands Primary School is a happy, safe and calm school where pupils behave well and learning is at the heart of the day. Inspectors found it is now performing well across the areas they judged, with significant improvements since the previous inspection. A newly designed curriculum is well organised and ambitious, early reading is a clear priority, pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported well in both the specially resourced provision and mainstream classes, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Pupils benefit from strong relationships, a wide range of clubs, and a personal development programme that prepares them for life in modern Britain. Leadership has driven considerable change. The school’s federation with a neighbouring primary has strengthened governance, staff training and support, and staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at the school, although workload has increased. Pupils are involved in improvement through the ‘Redlands Matters’ approach, and the school has high expectations of behaviour and learning. The main area to improve is assessment in the wider curriculum. Teachers check current learning well, but checks on what pupils remember over time in subjects beyond reading and mathematics are not consistently effective, so some gaps in knowledge are not addressed and pupils do not always deepen their understanding as well as they could.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe in a calm school where learning is central.
• The school’s values are extensively promoted and pupils are supported to live them.
• Behaviour is strong and lessons are rarely disrupted.
• The curriculum is newly designed, ambitious and organised to build understanding over time.
• Early reading is a priority, with books carefully matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge.
• Pupils at risk of falling behind in reading are identified and supported effectively.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported well in the ARP and mainstream classes.
• Teachers check current learning effectively and respond quickly to misconceptions.
• The personal development curriculum prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• A wide range of clubs and opportunities enriches the curriculum.
• Governance has a clear understanding of strengths and areas for improvement and provides useful support and challenge.
• Staff training through the federation coaching and mentoring model supports curriculum delivery.
• Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at the school and well-being is a high focus.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Pupils are involved in school improvement through the ‘Redlands Matters’ approach.

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on what pupils remember over time in wider subjects are inconsistent.
• Some gaps in knowledge are not addressed and recall of prior learning is not secure in the wider curriculum.
• Pupils do not always deepen their understanding as well as they could in wider 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 Redlands Primary School attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.4% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Redlands 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 Redlands Primary School had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.8% 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, 10.7% of pupils at Redlands Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.6% 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 Redlands Primary School received £8,362 and spent £8,767 for each of its 193 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £371,000 (-£1,924 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 Redlands Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Redlands Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Redlands Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Redlands Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Redlands Primary School have?

Redlands Primary School has 196 pupils on roll.

What age range does Redlands Primary School cover?

Redlands Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Redlands Primary School?

Redlands Primary School is at Lydford Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5QH.