St Luke's Primary School

St Luke's Primary School is a specialist primary where all pupils have an education, health and care plan, serving a disadvantaged area and a growing pupil population. The school provides a warm, caring and highly inclusive environment. Safeguarding is effective, pupils attend very well, and relationships between staff, pupils and families are a clear strength. Pupils are kind, bullying is rare, and there have been no suspensions for a significant period. Personal development and wellbeing are prioritised, and the school's relational, sensory-informed approach helps pupils regulate and feel safe. Most areas of provision are at the expected standard. Pupils make steady progress from their starting points, including toward EHC plan targets, and the curriculum is sequenced, flexible and ambitious. The early years gives children a positive start, and leadership and governance are committed and well supported by governors. However, teaching is not consistently well delivered across the school, and some activities lack clear learning goals or precise matching to pupils' starting points. The main next steps are to make curriculum delivery consistently strong, improve incidental interactions in the early years so all children are actively engaged, monitor the progress of disadvantaged pupils and those with additional barriers more rigorously, and use sharper performance analysis to drive improvement. Overall, this is a school with strong foundations, a clear inclusive ethos and a secure safeguarding culture, but with important work still to do to secure consistently strong standards in every area.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met within an open, positive culture.
• Pupils attend very well, including those with significant medical needs, and leaders understand barriers to attendance.
• Relational and sensory-informed approaches help pupils stay calm and regulate their emotions.
• There have been no suspensions for a significant period.
• Pupils are polite, respectful and kind, and bullying is very rare.
• Pupils make steady progress from their starting points because learning is personalised.
• Pupils work towards and make progress against targets in their EHC plans.
• The curriculum is appropriately sequenced, flexible and ambitious, with priority given to communication and physical development.
• Early years children make a positive start, with strong relationships and a well-matched curriculum.
• The school is highly inclusive and adapts effectively to a wide range of complex needs.
• Leaders and staff are relentlessly curious and identify emerging or changing needs quickly.
• Leaders engage a wide range of professionals so staff are well trained to support pupils.
• Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used well.
• Governors provide consistent support and challenge and ensure statutory duties are met.
• Staff value tailored professional learning, and some leaders support development in other schools.
• Personal development is prioritised, with trauma-informed pastoral support and bespoke targets.
• Pupils learn about safe adults, healthy relationships, online safety and road safety.
• Pupils benefit from visits, wider experiences and activities that build interests and talents.
• Transition arrangements into school and to the next stage of education are well supported.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent, and recent expectations for high-quality teaching are not yet embedded.
• Some activities do not have a clear learning goal or are not well matched to pupils' starting points.
• Early years incidental interactions are not consistently high quality, and some children engage less readily.
• Leaders do not always monitor the effectiveness of their approaches for disadvantaged pupils and those who speak English as an additional language.
• Progress monitoring for pupils with additional barriers to learning is not rigorous enough, and strategies are not systematically adjusted.
• Leaders do not yet use detailed, insightful performance analysis to identify improvement priorities.
• Pupils need more consistently strong teaching to develop detailed knowledge and skills.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Luke's Primary School attended 89.5% of sessions (the national figure for special schools was 87.2%). 32.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 35.3%).

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 Luke's Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 5.1%). 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 Luke's Primary School had 6.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for special schools was 6.6). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.5%).

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 St Luke's Primary School had 199 pupils, 99.5% of them with an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 99.5%).

It says it provides for: specific learning difficulty; moderate learning difficulty; severe learning difficulty; profound and multiple learning difficulty; social, emotional and mental health; speech, language and communication needs; hearing impairment; vision impairment; multi-sensory impairment; physical disability; autistic spectrum disorder; other difficulty or disability.

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 special school schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Luke's Primary School received £30,047 and spent £29,469 for each of its 199 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £988,000 (£4,967 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 Scunthorpe · North Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

What is St Luke's Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Luke's Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was St Luke's Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Luke's Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does St Luke's Primary School have?

St Luke's Primary School has 199 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Luke's Primary School cover?

St Luke's Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 0% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Luke's Primary School?

St Luke's Primary School is at Grange Lane North, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN16 1BN.