Longsands Community Primary School

Longsands Community Primary School is a warm, nurturing school where pupils are happy, behave well and feel that 'no one feels invisible and where everyone matters'. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is judged to be fulfilling expected standards in attendance and behaviour, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Inspectors highlighted an inclusive culture, strong support for pupils with SEND, robust attendance work, and a rich personal development offer spanning sport, outdoor learning, citizenship and cultural awareness. This is a school that has undergone significant change since its last inspection, with a new headteacher appointed in April 2024 and a new deputy headteacher in January 2025, and leaders are credited with an accurate understanding of priorities, effective use of improvement actions, and careful attention to staff workload and professional development. The main concerns sit in achievement, curriculum and teaching, and early years, all of which need attention. Pupils' basic foundational knowledge is not secured well enough or quickly enough, particularly in handwriting, spelling and phonics for some groups, leaving gaps that persist and hinder learning in other subjects. Phonics teaching is inconsistent and a new programme is still being embedded; checks on pupils' writing are not used effectively to shape teaching, and teaching quality varies so that pupils do not always build on prior learning. In the early years, staff subject knowledge, particularly in phonics, needs strengthening, and interactions, while warm, do not consistently deepen children's understanding or prepare them fully for Year 1. Overall, the school is well led and highly inclusive, with pupils typically achieving in line with national outcomes by the end of Year 6 and disadvantaged pupils making positive progress through the curriculum. However, the remaining inconsistencies in foundational teaching mean some pupils are not as well prepared for their next stage of education as they should be, and leaders' improvement actions in these areas are still at an early stage of delivery.

Strengths

• Inclusive culture with pupils' needs at the heart of decision-making, including effective use of pupil premium funding
• Strong, personalised support for pupils with SEND, backed by specialist training and family partnerships
• Robust attendance and punctuality processes that identify and tackle barriers quickly
• High expectations of behaviour, applied consistently, in a respectful and positive environment
• A rich personal development programme covering health, safety, relationships and resilience
• Extensive sporting, outdoor learning and pupil leadership opportunities that build character and confidence
• Ambitious leadership with a clear shared vision and a strong record of managing change
• Governors are knowledgeable, skilled and provide effective support and challenge to leaders
• High-quality, focused professional learning that builds staff expertise without excessive workload
• Pupils progress well through the wider curriculum and disadvantaged pupils make positive progress
• Warm, nurturing early years provision with positive relationships and strong work with parents and pre-school settings
• An open, positive safeguarding culture in which pupils feel safe and concerns are acted on quickly

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not secure foundational knowledge in handwriting and spelling well enough or quickly enough
• Phonics teaching is inconsistent, including in the early years, so pupils do not learn to read as fluently as they should
• Assessment in writing is not used effectively to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge
• Teaching quality is variable and does not consistently help pupils build on prior learning or deepen understanding
• Early years staff need further support to improve subject knowledge, particularly in phonics
• Early years interactions do not consistently extend children's learning or build depth of knowledge
• Gaps in foundational knowledge persist and hinder learning across other subjects, leaving some pupils less prepared for future education

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 Longsands Community Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.1% 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, 1.4% of pupils at Longsands 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 Longsands Community Primary School had 24.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.9% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Longsands Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.6% 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 Longsands Community Primary School received £6,988 and spent £6,697 for each of its 213 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £43,000 (£200 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 Longsands Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Longsands Community Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in February 2026.

When was Longsands Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Longsands Community Primary School was last inspected in February 2026.

How many pupils does Longsands Community Primary School have?

Longsands Community Primary School has 213 pupils on roll.

What age range does Longsands Community Primary School cover?

Longsands Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 65% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Longsands Community Primary School?

Longsands Community Primary School is at Longsands Lane, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9PS.