Church Drive Primary School

Church Drive Primary School has demonstrated a strong performance overall, achieving a 'Good' rating in all domains, with an outstanding rating in early years provision. The school fosters a supportive and caring environment where pupils feel safe and valued. There is a clear commitment from leaders towards high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The school successfully engages with parents and the community, and the efforts to reduce persistent absence have shown positive results. This is the school's first inspection since joining the Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust in 2019.

Strengths

• High quality of care provided by staff.
• Pupils exhibit positive behavior and resilience.
• Curriculum designed to build on knowledge progressively.
• Outstanding early years provision.
• Strong emphasis on teaching reading, with well-trained staff.
• Positive engagement with parents and the community.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent clarity on essential knowledge in a few subjects.
• Some teachers do not choose appropriate activities to support learning in certain subjects.

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 Church Drive Primary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.6% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Church Drive 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 Church Drive Primary School had 20.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.3% 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, 26.6% of pupils at Church Drive Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 2024–25 Church Drive Primary School received £7,684 and spent £6,471 for each of its 323 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £137,000 (£425 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust, income was £8,110 and spending £7,287 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 Wirral · Wirral local authority: places and applications

Church Drive Primary School is part of Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Stanton Road Primary School Wirral
• Brackenwood Junior School Wirral
• Poulton Lancelyn Primary School Wirral
• Thingwall Primary School Wirral
• Heswall Primary School Wirral
• Egremont Primary School Wallasey
• Irby Primary School Wirral
• Greasby Junior School Wirral
• Orrets Meadow School Wirral
• Hilbre High School Wirral

What is Church Drive Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Church Drive Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2023.

When was Church Drive Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Church Drive Primary School was last inspected in July 2023.

How many pupils does Church Drive Primary School have?

Church Drive Primary School has 323 pupils on roll.

What age range does Church Drive Primary School cover?

Church Drive Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Church Drive Primary School?

Church Drive Primary School is at Church Drive, Port Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside, CH62 5EF.