Dovedale Community Primary School

Dovedale Community Primary is a large, inclusive primary school performing strongly overall. Safeguarding standards are met, and inspectors judged attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and well-being to be strong. Achievement and early years were judged as expected standard. Pupils are proud of their school, attend well, behave exceptionally well, and benefit from an ambitious curriculum and extensive enrichment. Leaders are highly effective, governors are proactive, and support for pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and bereaved pupils is a notable strength. The main areas for improvement are mathematics attainment, which has exceeded national measures but has not been as high as reading and writing over time, and early years interaction. Staff occasionally do not step in quickly enough to draw children into purposeful conversation or play, meaning a small number of children, especially disadvantaged children, miss opportunities to deepen their learning and communication. Leaders are already working on both priorities. Overall, the school is thriving under confident leadership and pupils are well prepared for future learning and life in modern Britain.

Strengths

• Pupils attend well and are calm, polite and highly respectful.
• Behaviour is especially strong, and bullying is extremely rare.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well sequenced and builds knowledge over time.
• Teaching is highly effective and informed by educational research.
• Support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils is highly effective.
• Inclusion is a clear strength, including sensitive support for bereaved pupils.
• Leadership and governance are highly effective and drive sustained improvement.
• Personal development and enrichment are rich and inclusive.
• Reading is a strength, with strong phonics and a love of books.
• Pastoral support for pupils and families makes a significant difference.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain through diversity and British values work.
• Extra-curricular participation is high and accessible to all groups.
• Safeguarding standards are met with an open and positive culture.

Areas for Improvement

• Attainment in mathematics has not been as high as in reading and writing over time.
• Early years staff do not always intervene quickly enough to draw children into purposeful conversation or play.
• A small number of early years children, especially disadvantaged children, miss opportunities to deepen learning and communication.

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 Dovedale Community Primary School attended 96.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.9% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Dovedale 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 Dovedale Community Primary School had 23.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 2.9% 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, 19.0% of pupils at Dovedale Community Primary School 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 2025–26 Dovedale Community Primary School received £6,189 and spent £6,172 for each of its 839 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £320,000 (£381 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Liverpool · Liverpool local authority: places and applications

What is Dovedale Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dovedale Community Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Dovedale Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Dovedale Community Primary School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Dovedale Community Primary School have?

Dovedale Community Primary School has 839 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dovedale Community Primary School cover?

Dovedale Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Dovedale Community Primary School?

Dovedale Community Primary School is at Herondale Road, Liverpool, L18 1JX.