Pennycross Primary School

Pennycross Primary School is an inclusive, above-average-sized primary school in Plymouth. At this full inspection, inspectors found the school to be meeting the expected standard in all main areas, and safeguarding standards are met. Pupils are proud of their school, feel safe and experience a strong sense of belonging, with calm behaviour, positive relationships and improving attendance. The school's strengths include an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum, a strong early years provision, effective phonics teaching, and clear leadership and governance. Disadvantaged pupils are making progress in narrowing the attainment gap, and staff morale is high. Leaders know the school well and have a strategic approach to improvement. The main area for development is the consistency of support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Some of these pupils receive work that is too ambitious or targets that are not precisely matched to their needs, which slows their progress. Attendance remains a priority despite improvements, and a small number of younger pupils and early years children need further support to secure essential skills and sustain focus. Overall, this is a solid school with no urgent concerns and a clear understanding of what to improve next.

Strengths

• Inclusive culture where pupils feel a deep sense of belonging and the school is proud of its School of Sanctuary award.
• Calm, orderly environment with clear behaviour systems, respectful interactions and swift handling of any friendship issues.
• Strong early years provision with experienced staff, prompt identification of needs and effective parent partnerships.
• Ambitious, well-designed curriculum with a sharp focus on reading, writing and mathematics.
• Phonics is taught well, gaps are identified quickly and pupils who fall behind catch up effectively.
• Disadvantaged pupils' achievement is close to average and the attainment gap is narrowing.
• Effective leadership with strategic improvement planning and a secure understanding of strengths and priorities.
• Effective governance providing balanced challenge and support, including oversight of additional funding.
• Strong personal development programme covering equality, healthy lifestyles, online safety and enrichment.
• Staff feel well supported, morale is high and professional development and coaching are valued.
• Older pupils thrive in leadership roles and Year 6 pupils are well prepared for their next stage.
• Attendance has improved over time, with leaders analysing information and intervening early.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and pupils feeling safe.
• Additional funding is used effectively to provide bespoke support for disadvantaged pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is not consistently well designed or implemented.
• Learning activities are sometimes too ambitious for pupils with SEND whose core skills are not yet secure.
• For a small minority of pupils with SEND, targets are not precisely aligned to their needs, slowing progress.
• Some younger pupils require further support to sustain their focus on learning consistently.
• Attendance remains a priority despite improvements over time.
• A small number of children in the early years do not secure some essential basic skills needed for the next stage.

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 Pennycross Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.5% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Pennycross 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 Pennycross Primary School had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 15.4% of pupils at Pennycross Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.5% 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 Pennycross Primary School received £7,474 and spent £7,339 for each of its 402 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £330,000 (£821 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 Pennycross Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pennycross Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Pennycross Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pennycross Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Pennycross Primary School have?

Pennycross Primary School has 402 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pennycross Primary School cover?

Pennycross Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 82% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Pennycross Primary School?

Pennycross Primary School is at Arden Grove, Pennycross, Plymouth, Devon, PL2 3RL.