Gardners Lane Primary School

Gardners Lane Primary School continues to be rated as good overall, though there are concerns that its performance may not meet this standard in the near future. The school demonstrates a strong commitment to ensuring that students are happy and safe while also striving for academic achievement. Recent leadership changes have brought a clearer vision for improvement, but many initiatives are still in early stages. Attendance remains a notable focus, as efforts are underway to engage families and reduce absences among students. Despite a supportive learning environment where pupils feel welcomed, there are significant challenges in curriculum implementation. While some areas, like mathematics, show promise, others fall short of delivering a cohesive learning experience. Leaders are addressing these issues, particularly regarding reading and phonics, but timely support for struggling readers is not consistently provided, suggesting that further improvements are needed to boost student outcomes effectively.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe at school.
• There is a strong commitment to personal development.
• The school fosters positive relationships among adults and pupils.
• Reading initiatives are engaging and include support from volunteers.
• Sport is highly inclusive and promotes enjoyment in competition.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent implementation of the new curriculum across subjects.
• Some pupils do not receive timely support for developing reading skills.
• Not all activities meet the intended learning outcomes.

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 Gardners Lane Primary School attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 25.1% 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, 3.2% of pupils at Gardners Lane Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Gardners Lane Primary School had 17.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.8% 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, 19.5% of pupils at Gardners Lane Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.1% 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 Gardners Lane Primary School received £8,391 and spent £8,040 for each of its 262 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £389,000 (£1,484 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 Cheltenham · Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

Gardners Lane Primary School is part of Child and Family Learning Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Oakwood Primary School Cheltenham

What is Gardners Lane Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Gardners Lane Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2024.

When was Gardners Lane Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Gardners Lane Primary School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Gardners Lane Primary School have?

Gardners Lane Primary School has 262 pupils on roll.

What age range does Gardners Lane Primary School cover?

Gardners Lane Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Gardners Lane Primary School?

Gardners Lane Primary School is at Gardners Lane, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 9JW.