Malmesbury Park Primary School

Malmesbury Park Primary School is a larger-than-average primary in Bournemouth, part of Reach South Academy Trust, with a SEN unit for 12 pupils with autism. Following significant leadership instability, including two headteachers leaving and an interim headteacher now in post, the school has clear strengths but is not yet consistently preparing all pupils well for the next stage. Safeguarding is effective, pupils feel safe and well cared for, and attendance and behaviour are generally positive; personal development and wellbeing are also well supported. Current weaknesses are concentrated in achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, and leadership and governance. Historic gaps in the curriculum and teaching have left some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, with gaps in essential knowledge, and pupils in the SEN unit do not progress as well as they could. Writing and mathematics are not clearly sequenced, early years practice is inconsistent, and SEND progress is not monitored well enough. Recent actions by school and trust leaders are focused on the right priorities, particularly early reading, behaviour, and support for SEND, but they are very recent and their impact is not yet secure. Governors and the trust provide support, although some staff and parents remain concerned about behaviour management.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Pupils feel safe and are confident that bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly.
• Attendance is in line with national figures and improving, supported by regular checks and external agency work.
• Most pupils behave well, with calm and settled behaviour and a reduction in poor behaviour incidents.
• Personal development and wellbeing are well designed, inclusive and supported by a wide range of enrichment activities.
• Pupils value responsibility roles such as school council, prefects, peer mediators and play leaders.
• Early reading is a clear strength: phonics is well taught and younger pupils become confident readers.
• Recent improvements have helped more pupils with SEND feel settled and learn, with trust and specialist support.
• Governors are well informed and supportive, and staff generally feel leaders consider their workload and wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement requires attention because long-standing curriculum and teaching weaknesses have left gaps in pupils' knowledge.
• Pupils in the special educational needs unit do not progress as well as they could from their starting points.
• Pupils with gaps in essential knowledge do not get timely support, with some older pupils unable to write all letters and numbers correctly.
• Not all subjects are taught effectively; writing and mathematics do not clearly set out what pupils must learn and remember.
• Early years provision is inconsistent, with children sometimes expected to complete writing tasks without the required knowledge.
• Inclusion is weakened by inconsistencies in leadership and staffing, and SEND progress is not monitored effectively.
• Parents and staff are not always well informed about the progress and effectiveness of support for pupils with SEND.
• Leadership instability has reduced the school's effectiveness, and improvement actions are too recent to have secured impact.
• Some staff and parents remain concerned about the school's behaviour management approach.
• The trust and school must provide more robust support and challenge to secure rapid and sustained improvement.

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 Malmesbury Park Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.6% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Malmesbury Park 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 Malmesbury Park Primary School had 22.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.0% 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, 14.9% of pupils at Malmesbury Park Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 10 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 Malmesbury Park Primary School received £7,134 and spent £7,186 for each of its 668 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £949,000 (£1,421 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Reach South Academy Trust, income was £10,522 and spending £10,515 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 Bournemouth · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority: places and applications

Malmesbury Park Primary School is part of Reach South Academy Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Hill View Primary Academy Bournemouth
• SAIL (Salisbury Academy for Inspirational Learning) Salisbury
• The Springfields Academy Calne
• Peak Academy Dursley
• ACE Tiverton Special School Tiverton
• Thomas Hall School Exeter
• Goosewell Primary Academy Plymouth
• Courtlands School Plymouth
• Pilgrim Primary Academy Plymouth
• Stuart Road Primary Academy Plymouth

What is Malmesbury Park Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Malmesbury Park Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Malmesbury Park Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Malmesbury Park Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Malmesbury Park Primary School have?

Malmesbury Park Primary School has 693 pupils on roll.

What age range does Malmesbury Park Primary School cover?

Malmesbury Park Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Malmesbury Park Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Malmesbury Park Primary School?

Malmesbury Park Primary School is at Lowther Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 8LU.