Gainsborough Primary School

Gainsborough Primary School is performing strongly. Inspectors found staff highly ambitious for all pupils, with high expectations that help pupils achieve well across an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum. Behaviour and personal development are particular strengths: pupils are polite, highly motivated and behave impeccably, while the school’s personal development programme is exemplary and builds aspiration, confidence and responsibility. Reading has high priority, phonics is taught effectively, and pupils who struggle are quickly supported to keep up. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified swiftly and supported well, including in the school’s specially resourced autism provision. Leadership is effective, trustees are ambitious and staff are overwhelmingly positive about the support they receive. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement are that checks on what pupils know and remember are sometimes not sharp enough, meaning some pupils have gaps or misconceptions and are not always ready for new content. In the early years, some adults do not model language and sentence structure effectively enough, which limits some children’s opportunities to hear and practise new language. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and no overall effectiveness grade was awarded under the current inspection framework.

Strengths

• Staff are highly ambitious for all pupils and hold high expectations.
• Pupils achieve well across an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum.
• Pupils’ behaviour is impeccable during learning and social times.
• The personal development programme is exemplary and raises pupils’ aspirations.
• Early reading and phonics are taught effectively and consistently.
• Pupils who find reading difficult are quickly given the help they need.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported to access the full curriculum.
• Nurturing relationships help pupils feel happy and safe.
• Pupils have strong opportunities to take on roles of responsibility.
• Trustees are ambitious and have appropriate processes to check the school’s effectiveness.
• Staff value the support they receive for workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on what pupils know and remember are not always sharp enough, leaving some pupils with gaps and misconceptions.
• Some pupils are not ready to learn new content because misconceptions are not identified swiftly.
• In the early years, some adults do not model language and sentence structure effectively enough.
• Some children have limited opportunities to hear and practise new language.

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 Gainsborough Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.8% 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 Gainsborough 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 Gainsborough Primary School had 26.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 32.6% 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, 16.7% of pupils at Gainsborough Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 13.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 17 pupils and resourced provision with 14 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 Gainsborough Primary School received £13,978 and spent £13,547 for each of its 194 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £132,000 (£681 per pupil).

Across all 24 schools of The Compass Partnership of Schools, income was £10,246 and spending £9,845 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 Newham · Newham local authority: places and applications

Gainsborough Primary School is part of The Compass Partnership of Schools, which runs 28 schools. The nearest others:

• Kaizen Primary School London
• Earlham Primary School London
• Horizon Academy London
• Halstow Primary School London
• Rowan Wood School London
• Kidbrooke Park Primary School London
• Hackney New Primary School London
• South Rise Primary School London
• Wingfield Primary School London
• Deansfield Primary School London

What is Gainsborough Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Gainsborough Primary School is Good, from an inspection in February 2025.

When was Gainsborough Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Gainsborough Primary School was last inspected in February 2025.

How many pupils does Gainsborough Primary School have?

Gainsborough Primary School has 198 pupils on roll.

What age range does Gainsborough Primary School cover?

Gainsborough Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Gainsborough Primary School?

Gainsborough Primary School is at 10-14 Gainsborough Road, Stratford, London, E15 3AF.