Riverside Community Primary School Birstall

Riverside Community Primary School Birstall is performing well, continuing to be a good school as noted in its recent inspection. The school creates a welcoming environment, where pupils feel safe and supported, and they demonstrate pride in their school. There is a clear commitment from leadership and staff to ensure that all students, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive the help they need to thrive. Positive relationships among pupils and between pupils and staff contribute to a calm and orderly school atmosphere, with effective management of behavior and well-structured extracurricular opportunities enhancing the school experience. However, while the curriculum is broad and ambitious, the school faces challenges in consistently identifying misconceptions in pupils' written work across certain foundation subjects. This inconsistency in the assessment and feedback policy may impact the overall learning outcomes for all pupils, signaling an area that requires attention. The school’s leadership team has acknowledged this and is working towards implementing improvements to ensure that high expectations are met uniformly across all subjects.

Strengths

• Warm and welcoming school environment
• Strong emphasis on personal development and character building
• Effective provision and inclusivity for pupils with SEND
• Ambitious and broad curriculum
• Highly supportive and knowledgeable teaching staff
• Strong focus on reading with a structured phonics program
• Positive pupil behavior and trust in staff to resolve issues

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent identification of misconceptions in written work across some foundation subjects
• Lack of a clear assessment and feedback policy implemented uniformly

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 Riverside Community Primary School Birstall attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.1% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Riverside Community Primary School Birstall 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 Riverside Community Primary School Birstall had 20.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.5% 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, 12.7% of pupils at Riverside Community Primary School Birstall 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 2024–25 Riverside Community Primary School Birstall received £5,930 and spent £6,639 for each of its 419 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £641,000 (£1,529 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Lionheart Educational Trust, income was £7,656 and spending £7,419 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 Leicester · Leicestershire local authority: places and applications

Riverside Community Primary School Birstall is part of Lionheart Educational Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• The Cedars Academy Leicester
• Highcliffe Primary School and Community Centre Leicester
• Hallam Fields, Birstall Leicester
• The Martin High School Anstey Leicester
• Beauchamp City Sixth Form Leicester
• Judgemeadow Community College Leicester
• Sir Jonathan North Girls' College Leicester
• Humphrey Perkins School Loughborough
• Brocks Hill Primary School Leicester
• Beauchamp College Leicester

What is Riverside Community Primary School Birstall's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Riverside Community Primary School Birstall is Good, from an inspection in January 2023.

When was Riverside Community Primary School Birstall last inspected by Ofsted?

Riverside Community Primary School Birstall was last inspected in January 2023.

How many pupils does Riverside Community Primary School Birstall have?

Riverside Community Primary School Birstall has 409 pupils on roll.

What age range does Riverside Community Primary School Birstall cover?

Riverside Community Primary School Birstall for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Riverside Community Primary School Birstall?

Riverside Community Primary School Birstall is at Riverside Community Primary School Birstall, Wanlip Lane, Birstall, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE4 4JU.