Pokesdown Community Primary School

Pokesdown Community Primary School is performing well, achieving overall effectiveness rated as good, with outstanding behaviour and attitudes, as well as personal development. The school has a positive and welcoming environment, where dedicated leaders and staff engage with pupils from the very start of the day. The curriculum is carefully designed to enhance reading skills, and pupils receive extra support when needed, fostering an inclusive atmosphere. This inspection marks the school's first under the new inspection framework since becoming an academy, and it shows a culture of aspiration and community support among both staff and parents. Overall, the school is committed to providing a high-quality education while addressing the diverse needs of its pupils including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Strengths

• Outstanding behaviour and attitudes among pupils.
• High-quality displays of pupils’ learning reflecting their pride.
• A wide range of engaging extracurricular activities.
• Strong emphasis on reading across the curriculum.
• Meticulously constructed integrated curriculum leading to high-quality outcomes.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Strong ties with the community and positive parental endorsement.

Areas for Improvement

• Some wider curriculum subjects lack precise assessment practices leading to knowledge recall issues.

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 Pokesdown Community Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.3% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Pokesdown 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 Pokesdown Community Primary School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.6% 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, 16.1% of pupils at Pokesdown Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Pokesdown Community Primary School received £6,760 and spent £6,823 for each of its 417 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £141,000 (-£338 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

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What is Pokesdown Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Pokesdown Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pokesdown Community Primary School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Pokesdown Community Primary School have?

Pokesdown Community Primary School has 417 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pokesdown Community Primary School cover?

Pokesdown Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Pokesdown Community Primary School?

Pokesdown Community Primary School is at Livingstone Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH5 2AS.