St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery is a welcoming school where warm relationships, clear routines and high expectations help pupils feel safe and achieve well, including in national assessments. Attendance has improved, behaviour is calm and orderly, and pupils show respect and take part in purposeful leadership and community opportunities. The nursery provides a nurturing start, early reading is a clear priority, and pupils with SEND are identified quickly and generally access the curriculum successfully. Leadership has taken rapid action since the previous inspection, and trust leaders and governors have an accurate view of the school. The curriculum has been sequenced progressively from Nursery to Year 4, and teaching helps pupils retain knowledge in subjects such as reading and computing. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. However, assessment is not used precisely enough in some subjects, including mathematics, to identify and address misconceptions and gaps, and gaps from the previous curriculum have not always been fully addressed. Support for pupils with SEND is sometimes not precise enough to help them meet personalised targets. This was a graded inspection under section 5, and under current arrangements the school did not receive an overall effectiveness grade. The school remains part of Heath Academy Trust and was previously judged good.

Strengths

• Warm relationships and a welcoming culture help pupils feel comfortable and supported
• Pupils achieve well, including in national assessments, and are prepared for the next stage
• Attendance has improved because of the school's work
• Pupils understand and demonstrate the 'ready, respectful and safe' behaviour expectations
• The nursery provides a nurturing environment that helps children learn routines
• Curriculum is sequenced progressively from Nursery to Year 4
• Teaching in reading and computing helps pupils retain and build on knowledge
• Early reading is a priority, with well-trained staff and strong support for pupils who struggle
• Pupils develop strong comprehension skills and read fluently
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and accurately, and the curriculum is adapted for them
• Leaders have created a calm and orderly environment with clear routines
• Pupils learn how to stay safe and develop social responsibility through local and global activities
• Trust leaders and governors understand the school and hold leaders to account effectively
• Staff are proud to work at the school and parents and pupils speak positively about it
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, including mathematics, assessment is not used precisely enough to identify and address misconceptions
• Some pupils develop gaps in knowledge that make it harder to build and deepen understanding
• Gaps in knowledge from the previous curriculum have not been fully addressed in some subjects
• Support for pupils with SEND sometimes lacks precision and clarity about next steps and personalised targets

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 St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.2% 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 St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery 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 St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery had 28.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.6% 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, 16.2% of pupils at St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery 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 St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery received £7,810 and spent £7,448 for each of its 140 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £203,000 (£1,451 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of The Heath Academy Trust, income was £7,083 and spending £6,778 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 Ferndown · Dorset local authority: places and applications

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery is part of The Heath Academy Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Oakhurst Community First School Ferndown
• Three Legged Cross First and Nursery School Wimborne
• St Ives Primary & Nursery School Ringwood
• St James' Church of England First School and Nursery, Alderholt Fordingbridge
• Sixpenny Handley First School and Nursery Salisbury

What is St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery have?

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery has 148 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery cover?

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery for pupils aged 2 to 9.

Where is St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery?

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery is at Station Road, West Moors, Ferndown, Dorset, BH22 0JF.