St John's Primary and Nursery School

St John's Primary and Nursery School has improved markedly since its previous inspection, when it was judged to require improvement, and is now good across every judged area: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Inspectors found a vibrant, welcoming school where pupils are happy, polite and confident, and where staff hold high expectations and have built a well-sequenced curriculum that helps most pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, learn securely. The school's values of community, empathy and respect are lived out in practice, and pupils speak warmly about inclusion. Leadership is a clear strength: governors understand the school well and both support and challenge leaders, while staff feel their workload is managed sensibly, which has helped teaching improve over time. The early years provision is particularly strong, with children who are enthusiastic, focused learners benefiting from a sharp emphasis on personal and social development and close partnership with parents. Safeguarding arrangements are effective and pupils feel safe. The school is part of the Southampton Cooperative Learning Trust and serves a community that includes many pupils arriving in key stage 2 with English as an additional language. Two areas need further work. Phonics teaching is not consistently clear, so a small number of pupils are unclear about the sounds they are learning and do not catch up as quickly as they could; recent published reading outcomes do not yet reflect the school's wider progress. Persistent absence also remains a significant concern for some pupils despite the school's efforts, meaning those pupils miss out on the full curriculum and wider opportunities. The report asks the school to sharpen staff expertise in phonics and early reading and to keep working closely with families to improve attendance.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, polite and confident, and treat each other with respect
• Staff have high expectations and a well-sequenced curriculum that builds knowledge over time
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND learn the curriculum well
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and provision is personalised, drawing on external expertise
• Behaviour is positive, with clear routines in place from the start of early years
• Early years provision is strong, with enthusiastic, focused children and a sharp focus on personal and social development
• Phonics is prioritised and reading books are closely matched to the sounds pupils have learned
• Governors know the school well and support and challenge leaders effectively
• Staff workload is managed well, supporting sustained improvement in teaching
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective and pupils feel safe
• Pupils learn about different faiths and beliefs and are taught to value difference
• A wide range of clubs and educational visits build confidence and help pupils remember learning
• Pupils arriving with English as an additional language are helped to progress from their starting points
• Parents are supportive of the school and partnership with families in early years is strong

Areas for Improvement

• Phonics is not taught with consistent clarity, so some pupils are unclear about the sounds they are learning
• A small proportion of pupils fall behind in reading and do not catch up as quickly as they could
• Persistent absence has not improved for a significant number of pupils, meaning they miss the full curriculum
• Recent published reading outcomes do not fully reflect the school's wider achievements

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 St John's Primary and Nursery School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 26.3% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St John's Primary and Nursery 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 St John's Primary and Nursery School had 17.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.8% 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, 13.4% of pupils at St John's Primary and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 St John's Primary and Nursery School received £7,579 and spent £7,671 for each of its 400 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £229,000 (£571 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 Southampton · Southampton local authority: places and applications

St John's Primary and Nursery School is part of Southampton Co-Operative Learning Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• The Polygon School Southampton
• Banister Primary School Southampton

What is St John's Primary and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St John's Primary and Nursery School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was St John's Primary and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

St John's Primary and Nursery School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does St John's Primary and Nursery School have?

St John's Primary and Nursery School has 418 pupils on roll.

What age range does St John's Primary and Nursery School cover?

St John's Primary and Nursery School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St John's Primary and Nursery School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 40% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St John's Primary and Nursery School?

St John's Primary and Nursery School is at French Street, Old Town, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 2AU.