Queen Eleanor Primary School

Queen Eleanor Primary School is a small primary school (73 pupils) in Harby, Newark. Inspected in March 2026, it is judged to be meeting expected standards in most areas of its work, and safeguarding standards are met. Pupils achieve well overall, with attainment at the end of key stage 2 typically close to national averages and reading and writing often above national averages. The school has a well-sequenced curriculum, strong phonics teaching, calm and respectful behaviour, and a caring early years provision. Personal development is a notable strength, with a wide enrichment offer and clear CARE values. There are, however, important areas for improvement, including within inclusion. Some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they could, and teaching adaptations for these pupils are not consistently effective across all lessons. Persistent absence remains high for a small number of pupils, and leaders’ work to improve attendance for some groups is ongoing. Leadership and governance are judged to need attention: governors’ oversight systems are not yet firmly established, leaders’ understanding of some statutory duties has gaps, and tackling persistent absence is not yet a clear strategic priority. Oversight of behaviour systems, including positive handling and de-escalation, also requires refinement. The inspection took place following significant change since the last inspection, with almost all governors new to their roles. The school is small, with no resourced provision, and its proportion of pupils with SEN support is close to average while no pupils have an EHC plan. Early years provision is generally strong, but planned activities and resources sometimes do not fully match children’s different ages and stages. Overall, the school is performing at expected standard in most domains but needs to secure greater consistency for pupils facing barriers to learning and attendance.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well overall, with reading and writing attainment typically at or above national averages.
• Phonics is taught systematically from Reception, with quick support for pupils who fall behind.
• Pupils behave very well, creating a calm, respectful and disruption-free environment.
• Staff know pupils well and provide strong pastoral care and emotional support.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well sequenced, helping pupils recall prior learning and build vocabulary.
• Personal development is well planned through CARE values, enrichment, leadership roles and community involvement.
• Early years children settle quickly, form warm relationships and benefit from a strong focus on language, reading and mathematics.
• Inclusion work is strengthening, with earlier identification of needs and prompter responses to concerns.
• Staff feel supported, early career teachers receive appropriate training, and workload is managed thoughtfully.
• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they could.
• Teaching adaptations for pupils with SEND are not consistently effective across all lessons.
• Some pupils with moderate learning needs require more precise scaffolding to access the curriculum.
• Support for pupils with emotional needs is strengthening but not yet consistently effective.
• Persistent absence remains high for a small number of pupils, and attendance for some groups needs to improve.
• Leaders’ actions have not yet secured consistency for pupils facing barriers to learning and attendance.
• Governance systems for checking and understanding all aspects of school work are not firmly established.
• Governors have a less well-informed understanding of some key areas, including SEND experiences and persistent absence.
• There are gaps in leaders’ understanding and oversight of some statutory duties.
• Tackling persistent absence is not yet a clear or consistent strategic priority.
• Oversight of behaviour systems, including positive handling and de-escalation, requires further refinement.
• Early years planned activities sometimes do not meet the needs of different ages and stages.
• Early years environment and resources need to be better suited to children’s different stages of development.

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 Queen Eleanor Primary School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.2% 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, 2.7% of pupils at Queen Eleanor 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 Queen Eleanor Primary School had 23.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 26.3% 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, 25.8% of pupils at Queen Eleanor Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.5% 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 Queen Eleanor Primary School received £8,898 and spent £10,284 for each of its 66 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £42,000 (£636 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 Newark · Nottinghamshire local authority: places and applications

What is Queen Eleanor Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Queen Eleanor Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Queen Eleanor Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Queen Eleanor Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Queen Eleanor Primary School have?

Queen Eleanor Primary School has 66 pupils on roll.

What age range does Queen Eleanor Primary School cover?

Queen Eleanor Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Queen Eleanor Primary School?

Queen Eleanor Primary School is at Harby, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG23 7EQ.