Park Lane Primary & Nursery School

Park Lane Primary & Nursery School remains a good school, maintaining its established reputation since the last inspection in January 2019. The school fosters a welcoming environment where pupils feel safe, respected, and engaged in their learning. The curriculum is generally well-organized, particularly in the early years, enabling pupils to build knowledge effectively, and those with SEND achieve in line with their peers. Parents and staff appreciate the supportive and warm relationships formed within the school, contributing to a positive atmosphere and high attendance rates. Despite these strengths, there are areas for improvement, particularly in curriculum consistency across some subjects, where key knowledge is not always well-defined. This gap can hinder pupils' ability to recall prior learning and access more complex concepts. The school is encouraged to strengthen these areas to ensure all students make strong progress across the full range of subjects, thereby addressing any gaps in knowledge more effectively.

Strengths

• Welcoming and friendly learning environment
• High attendance rates and pupil enjoyment in school activities
• Strong relationships between staff and pupils
• Well-established phonics programme with effective teaching
• Effective support for pupils with SEND, enabling them to achieve well
• Wide range of enrichment opportunities enhancing community awareness
• Good understanding of different cultures and religions among pupils
• Supportive school leadership with strong staff morale

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistencies in curriculum delivery leading to gaps in knowledge in some subjects

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 Park Lane Primary & Nursery School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.8% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Park Lane Primary & 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 Park Lane Primary & Nursery School had 24.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.4% 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, 12.2% of pupils at Park Lane Primary & Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.1% 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 2024–25 Park Lane Primary & Nursery School received £5,995 and spent £6,427 for each of its 443 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £293,000 (£662 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Aspire Learning Trust (Whittlesey), income was £7,499 and spending £7,655 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 Peterborough · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

Park Lane Primary & Nursery School is part of Aspire Learning Trust (Whittlesey), which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Sir Harry Smith Community College Peterborough
• New Road Primary & Nursery School Peterborough

What is Park Lane Primary & Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Park Lane Primary & Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

Park Lane Primary & Nursery School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Park Lane Primary & Nursery School have?

Park Lane Primary & Nursery School has 441 pupils on roll.

What age range does Park Lane Primary & Nursery School cover?

Park Lane Primary & Nursery School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Park Lane Primary & Nursery School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Park Lane Primary & Nursery School?

Park Lane Primary & Nursery School is at Park Lane, Whittlesey, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE7 1JB.