Pensans Community Primary School

Pensans Community Primary School is currently facing challenges and has been graded as requiring improvement in overall effectiveness, as well as in several key areas including the quality of education, personal development, leadership, and management, and early years provision. Despite these challenges, the school boasts a strong, inclusive ethos and impressive progress in pupil behavior and attendance, which is seen as a priority by the leadership. The headteacher, who has been in position since 2023, is recognized for her positive impact and the school is part of the Truro & Penwith Academy Trust, which is aware of and acknowledges the school’s recent decline. While some aspects of the educational experience have improved, particularly in reading and behavior, significant areas still require development to ensure that all pupils are effectively prepared for secondary education.

Strengths

• Strong inclusive ethos and care for students
• Significant improvements in pupil behavior
• Effective teaching of reading with outcomes rising sharply
• Pupils are passionate about their learning
• Improved attendance rates due to robust systems

Areas for Improvement

• Quality of education requires significant improvement
• Early years provision does not adequately address children's gaps in knowledge
• Some subjects in the curriculum lack ambition and proper sequencing
• Personal development curriculum is not fully established or precise
• Inconsistent lesson planning does not consider prior knowledge of pupils

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 Pensans Community Primary School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.4% 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, 8.3% of pupils at Pensans Community Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 3 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 Pensans Community Primary School had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% 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, 31.7% of pupils at Pensans Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 16.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 18 pupils.

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 Pensans Community Primary School received £11,799 and spent £12,828 for each of its 117 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £259,000 (-£2,223 per pupil).

Across all 41 schools of Truro & Penwith Academy Trust, income was £7,781 and spending £7,890 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 Penzance · Cornwall local authority: places and applications

Pensans Community Primary School is part of Truro & Penwith Academy Trust, which runs 41 schools. The nearest others:

• Mounts Bay Academy Penzance
• Alverton Primary School Penzance
• Newlyn School Penzance
• Gulval School Penzance
• Mousehole School Penzance
• Ludgvan School Penzance
• Nancledra School Penzance
• St Buryan Primary School Penzance
• Pendeen School Penzance
• St Hilary School Penzance

What is Pensans Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pensans Community Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was Pensans Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pensans Community Primary School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does Pensans Community Primary School have?

Pensans Community Primary School has 139 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pensans Community Primary School cover?

Pensans Community Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Pensans Community Primary School?

Pensans Community Primary School is at Madron Road, Penzance, Cornwall, TR20 8UH.