Queen's Park Academy

Queen's Park Academy is a welcoming, nurturing junior school where pupils attend well, behave sensibly and benefit from a broad, ambitious curriculum. Published key stage 2 outcomes exceed national expectations, most pupils are well prepared for secondary school, and pupils’ personal development is exceptionally strong, with exemplary character development, rich wider experiences and meaningful pupil voice. Parents are overwhelmingly positive, and staff morale is high. The school’s reading programme has been strengthened, and pupils generally build knowledge well across subjects. Safeguarding is effective, and governance knows the school well. However, the quality of some pupils’ writing is not consistently high enough because staff do not routinely address handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. In addition, learning is occasionally not adapted well enough for some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, including in mathematics, so these pupils do not always secure the intended curriculum knowledge. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2014, when it was exempt after being judged outstanding. The school is part of the Authentic Education Group multi-academy trust and, under the current inspection framework, did not receive an overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Welcoming and nurturing atmosphere where pupils get along and feel cared for
• High attendance because pupils enjoy school
• Parents praise the dedicated and supportive staff
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with clearly sequenced knowledge
• Pupils connect prior learning to new content in many subjects
• Most pupils achieve well and key stage 2 outcomes exceed national expectations
• Strengthened reading programme with focused phonics support for pupils who need to catch up
• Most pupils read confidently by the time they leave
• Pupils are keen to write and many write with increasing sophistication
• Teachers revisit important content and vocabulary at the start of lessons
• Pupils with SEND have their needs identified quickly
• High standards of behaviour with effective systems for rare bullying and racism incidents
• Exceptionally strong personal development and exemplary character development
• Rich wider experiences including residential visits, clubs and leadership responsibilities
• Disadvantaged pupils are ensured access to wider opportunities
• Pupils learn about safety, careers, equality and giving back to the community
• Governance knows the school well and holds leaders to account
• Staff morale is high and workload and well-being are well supported
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils’ written work is not of a sufficiently high standard
• Staff do not routinely address pupils’ handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation errors
• Some pupils continue to make the same writing mistakes and lack accuracy
• Learning is occasionally not adapted well enough for some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• Some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND do not secure the knowledge outlined in the curriculum, including in mathematics

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's Park Academy attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.2% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Queen's Park Academy 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's Park Academy had 23.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.9% 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, 9.4% of pupils at Queen's Park Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% 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 2024–25 Queen's Park Academy received £6,309 and spent £6,375 for each of its 484 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £466,000 (£963 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Authentic Education Group Limited, income was £9,345 and spending £9,661 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bournemouth · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority: places and applications

Queen's Park Academy is part of Authentic Education Group Limited, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• King's Park Academy Bournemouth
• Tregonwell Academy Bournemouth
• Kinson Academy Bournemouth
• Elm Academy Bournemouth
• Oak Academy Bournemouth
• LeAF Studio Bournemouth
• Manorside Academy Poole
• St Aldhelm's Academy Poole
• Longspee Academy Poole
• Bayside Academy Poole

What is Queen's Park Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Queen's Park Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Queen's Park Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Queen's Park Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Queen's Park Academy have?

Queen's Park Academy has 479 pupils on roll.

What age range does Queen's Park Academy cover?

Queen's Park Academy for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Queen's Park Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 75% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Queen's Park Academy?

Queen's Park Academy is at East Way, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 9PU.