Lea Community Primary School

Lea Community Primary School is a warm, caring and ambitious community primary where pupils are proud to attend and behave well. Inspectors found the school performing well overall, with effective safeguarding and strong relationships between pupils and staff. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and, under current arrangements, no overall effectiveness grade was awarded. The school has improved its curriculum considerably and pupils achieve increasingly well. Reading and phonics are high priorities, pupils with SEND have their needs identified quickly, early communication and vocabulary work are strong, and attendance has improved through close work with families. Staff feel supported in their workload and development, and governors challenge and support the school effectively. The main areas for development concern the quality of work set and the embedding of recent curriculum changes. Occasionally, activities do not deepen pupils’ knowledge enough to prepare them securely for future learning, and in some subjects recent improvements mean pupils have had fewer chances to revisit and secure key knowledge. The 2024 multiplication tables check was significantly below the national average, but leaders identified the causes and have taken effective action.

Strengths

• Warm, caring environment with positive relationships between pupils and staff
• Pupils are proud, polite and behave well, with sensitive support for those who need help regulating behaviour
• Ambitious curriculum with considerable recent improvement from early years to Year 6
• Strong early identification of SEND and effective support so pupils access the full curriculum
• Sharp focus on communication and vocabulary, built on as pupils progress
• High priority on reading with engaging spaces, a successful new phonics programme and well-matched books
• Effective staff development, workload consideration and use of expertise to address misconceptions
• Improved attendance through close partnership with parents and carers
• Pupils understand respect, diversity, equality and physical and mental health
• Governors understand their role and provide effective challenge and support
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Work set sometimes lacks sufficient opportunity to develop secure understanding of important knowledge and skills
• Some pupils are not as well prepared for new learning as they could be
• Recent curriculum improvements in some subjects mean pupils have had fewer opportunities to revisit and strengthen learning
• In some subjects, pupils’ knowledge and skills are not as secure as they should be
• 2024 multiplication tables check attainment was significantly below the national average, although action has since been taken

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 Lea Community Primary School attended 92.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.1% 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, 4.5% of pupils at Lea Community 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 Lea Community Primary School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.4% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Lea Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Lea Community Primary School received £7,685 and spent £7,561 for each of its 290 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £105,000 (£362 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Lea Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lea Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Lea Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lea Community Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Lea Community Primary School have?

Lea Community Primary School has 290 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lea Community Primary School cover?

Lea Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lea Community Primary School?

Lea Community Primary School is at Greavestown Lane, Lea, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 1PD.