Moorlands Primary School

Moorlands Primary School is an inclusive primary school within the Reach Cooperative Trust. This was its first inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and under the current framework it did not receive an overall effectiveness grade. Inspectors judged the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision to be good. Pupils are happy and feel safe, pupils with SEND are supported well, and pupils achieve highly across a broad curriculum. The school's main strengths include an ambitious and logically sequenced curriculum, strong reading and phonics provision, positive pupil behaviour, and particularly strong personal development. Leaders, governors and staff are aligned and reflective, and the safeguarding culture is positive. Pupils benefit from a wide range of trips, clubs, pupil leadership roles and citizenship opportunities that prepare them well for life in modern Britain. There are still areas to improve. In some subjects, teachers do not check pupils' understanding carefully enough, and pupils do not always retain what they have learned over time. Persistent absence remains high for a small proportion of pupils, and the school needs to evaluate the impact of its attendance actions more sharply. Safeguarding arrangements were effective, but the policy and some recording processes needed minor improvements; the school acted during the inspection and must now ensure policies and procedures remain consistently up to date.

Strengths

• Inclusive culture where pupils feel safe, happy and cared for
• High expectations and strong support for pupils with SEND
• Ambitious curriculum sequenced logically from Reception to Year 6
• Strong reading and phonics provision with effective catch-up support
• Pupils achieve well across the curriculum
• Positive behaviour and clear routines from early years onwards
• Personal development is a strength, with rich trips, clubs and citizenship opportunities
• Effective PSHE and online safety education
• Leaders, governors and staff are aligned and reflective
• Safeguarding culture is positive and pupils are well looked after

Areas for Improvement

• Checking of pupils' understanding is inconsistent across subjects
• In some subjects, pupils do not retain knowledge well over time, leaving gaps
• Persistent absence remains high and attendance actions are not evaluated well enough
• Safeguarding policy and records were not fully statutory at inspection and lacked clarity in places
• Minor improvements are still needed to keep policies and procedures consistently compliant and timely

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 Moorlands Primary School attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.2% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Moorlands 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 Moorlands Primary School had 20.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.3% 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, 15.5% of pupils at Moorlands Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 Moorlands Primary School received £7,265 and spent £7,173 for each of its 393 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £128,000 (£325 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

Moorlands Primary School is part of Reach Cooperative Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Townhill Junior School Southampton
• Woodlands Community College Southampton
• Bitterne Park School Southampton
• Bitterne Manor Primary and Nursery School Southampton
• St Denys Primary School Southampton
• Redbridge Community School Southampton

What is Moorlands Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Moorlands Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Moorlands Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Moorlands Primary School have?

Moorlands Primary School has 393 pupils on roll.

What age range does Moorlands Primary School cover?

Moorlands Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Moorlands Primary School?

Moorlands Primary School is at Kesteven Way, Bitterne, Southampton, Hampshire, SO18 5RJ.