Fairlands Primary School

Fairlands Primary is a calm, inclusive and well-led school where pupils feel safe and are well supported. Inspectors found strong practice in attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance, and safeguarding standards are met. Staff know pupils and families well, adapt teaching for pupils with SEND, and have improved attendance, though overall absence and persistent absence remain above national averages. Pupils achieve broadly in line with national outcomes in reading, writing and maths, but combined outcomes are below the national average and disadvantaged pupils remain a particular concern, with a wide attainment gap and lower outcomes. Leaders are focused on raising outcomes for all groups. Early years is well organised and children settle well, but adult language modelling is inconsistent when children learn independently. The school is large, part of The Claxton Trust, and serves a community with high levels of SEN support, free school meals and deprivation; leaders use partnerships and funding well to remove barriers.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture where every pupil is known, valued and supported
• Strong support for pupils with SEND, including tailored interventions and sensory breaks
• Coherent, well-sequenced curriculum taught consistently across subjects
• Effective reading teaching with specialist catch-up support
• Relentless focus on attendance and close work with families to remove barriers
• Calm, consistent behaviour routines and polite pupils around school
• Collaborative leadership with strong staff development and trust
• Governance knows the school well and holds leaders to account
• Purposeful enrichment that widens horizons and removes barriers to participation
• Strong pastoral support and pupils' understanding of respect, equality and safety
• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe

Areas for Improvement

• Early years adults do not consistently model rich language during independent learning
• Leaders need to analyse and act on outcomes for vulnerable groups so they achieve at a higher level
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and maths outcomes remain well below national and the disadvantage gap is wide
• Combined reading, writing and maths outcomes are below the national average overall
• Overall absence and persistent absence remain above national averages

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 Fairlands Primary School attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.9% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Fairlands 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 Fairlands Primary School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 3.4% 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, 27.9% of pupils at Fairlands Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.4% 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 Fairlands Primary School received £6,963 and spent £6,948 for each of its 659 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £845,000 (£1,282 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of The Claxton Trust, income was £6,944 and spending £6,865 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 Stevenage · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

Fairlands Primary School is part of The Claxton Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Camps Hill Primary School Stevenage

What is Fairlands Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Fairlands Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Fairlands Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Fairlands Primary School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Fairlands Primary School have?

Fairlands Primary School has 655 pupils on roll.

What age range does Fairlands Primary School cover?

Fairlands Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Fairlands Primary School?

Fairlands Primary School is at Pound Avenue, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 3JA.