Dovecote Primary and Nursery School

Dovecote Primary and Nursery School is a caring school with strong relationships between pupils and staff, effective safeguarding and good pastoral support. Recent improvements are underway in the curriculum, behaviour, attendance and phonics, and pupils benefit from a range of clubs and a calm outdoor space. However, the quality of education is not yet good enough, and many pupils do not achieve the standard expected in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2. The school has made sensible changes, including sharper English and mathematics curriculums and better support for pupils with SEND, but these are new and have not yet improved outcomes. Learning is not consistently well matched to the curriculum, assessment does not identify gaps quickly enough, and behaviour expectations are not consistently high, so low-level disruption still affects learning. Attendance remains too high, early years activities are not always purposeful, and personal development does not prepare pupils well enough for life in modern Britain. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is part of the Nottingham Schools Trust.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and benefit from strong relationships with staff
• High-quality pastoral support is available, including ‘The Treehouse’
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Pupils with SEND are well supported through visual aids and adapted materials
• Phonics oversight has improved and pupils who fall behind receive prompt support
• Serious incidents of misbehaviour have declined
• Pupils enjoy a range of sport and music clubs
• Staff feel proud to work at the school and value improved support for wellbeing and workload
• Governors know the school’s strengths and weaknesses and have clear improvement plans
• The school benefits from working with another school in Nottingham Schools Trust

Areas for Improvement

• Too many pupils do not achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2
• Work given to pupils is not always well matched to the curriculum and can be too easy or too hard
• Learning does not consistently build on pupils’ prior knowledge
• Assessment is not used well enough to identify and resolve gaps in pupils’ knowledge
• Some staff have low expectations of behaviour and do not deal with low-level disruption well enough
• Absence remains too high, although it is falling
• Some early years activities lack clear learning purpose
• Pupils have limited understanding of fundamental British values and differences between people
• Recent curriculum improvements have not had enough time to improve pupils’ 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 Dovecote Primary and Nursery School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.3% 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, 3.5% of pupils at Dovecote Primary and Nursery 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 Dovecote Primary and Nursery School had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.6% 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, 19.8% of pupils at Dovecote Primary and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.5% 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 Dovecote Primary and Nursery School received £8,758 and spent £9,176 for each of its 281 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £93,000 (-£332 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).

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What is Dovecote Primary and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dovecote Primary and Nursery School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Dovecote Primary and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

Dovecote Primary and Nursery School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Dovecote Primary and Nursery School have?

Dovecote Primary and Nursery School has 288 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dovecote Primary and Nursery School cover?

Dovecote Primary and Nursery School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Dovecote Primary and Nursery School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 27% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Dovecote Primary and Nursery School?

Dovecote Primary and Nursery School is at GREENCROFT, CLIFTON, NOTTINGHAM, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, NG11 8EY.