Livingstone Road Infant School

Livingstone Road Infant School is a highly inclusive and nurturing infant school that is meeting the expected standard across all inspected areas, with safeguarding requirements met. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, make effective progress from their individual starting points. The school is particularly strong in early reading and phonics, with reading books matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge and improving phonics screening results. Behaviour is good, bullying is extremely rare, attendance is improving, and pupils benefit from a broad, well-sequenced curriculum alongside strong personal development, pastoral support and enrichment provision. The main areas for continued development are attendance and early writing. Although leaders work intensively with families and external agencies and attendance has improved, overall absence and persistent absence remain above national averages. Leaders have also correctly identified that pupils’ writing knowledge and skills are not yet fully secure, especially spelling, punctuation, handwriting and letter formation, and these early writing skills are not consistently applied across the wider curriculum. Leaders are taking appropriate action to address this. The school is part of Hamwic Education Trust and serves a community with many pupils joining at different points in the school year. Leaders, governance and trust oversight are effective, with a clear understanding of strengths and priorities. Overall, pupils are safe, happy, well supported and typically well prepared for the next stage of education, with clear next steps to secure further improvement.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive provision that warmly welcomes pupils joining at different times of year
• Effective progress for pupils from their individual starting points, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Relentless focus on phonics and early reading, with books well matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge
• Improving phonics screening results and strong development of early reading skills
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum with clear identification of essential knowledge
• Strong early years provision with warm relationships, high-quality interactions and engaging learning
• Effective support for pupils with SEND, including tailored training, adaptations and reduced classroom provision
• Consistent and sensitive behaviour management, leading to good behaviour and a marked fall in suspensions
• Rigorous focus on attendance, with intensive work with families and external agencies improving individual cases
• Strong pastoral support that improves pupils’ wellbeing, attendance and confidence
• Wide range of enrichment, clubs, trips, performances and musical opportunities for all pupils
• Effective leadership and governance, with high-quality staff development and a supportive family feel

Areas for Improvement

• Overall attendance remains slightly below the national average
• Persistent absence is above the national average
• Pupils’ writing knowledge and skills are not yet fully secure
• Early writing skills, including handwriting, punctuation and spelling, are not consistently applied across the wider curriculum
• National assessment results do not always fully reflect pupils’ effective progress from their starting points

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 Livingstone Road Infant School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.1% 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, 5.1% of pupils at Livingstone Road Infant 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 Livingstone Road Infant School had 30.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 30.3% 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, 11.6% of pupils at Livingstone Road Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Livingstone Road Infant School received £7,558 and spent £6,854 for each of its 216 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £283,000 (£1,309 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Hamwic Education Trust, income was £7,058 and spending £7,015 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 Poole · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority: places and applications

Livingstone Road Infant School is part of Hamwic Education Trust, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Livingstone Road Junior School Poole
• Bishop Aldhelm's Church of England Primary School Poole
• Talbot Primary School Poole
• Hillbourne Primary School Poole
• Bearwood Primary and Nursery School Bournemouth
• Hamworthy Park Junior School Poole
• Twin Sails Infant and Nursery School Poole
• Springdale First School Broadstone
• Hampreston Church of England Voluntary Aided First School Wimborne
• Upton Infant School Poole

What is Livingstone Road Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Livingstone Road Infant School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Livingstone Road Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Livingstone Road Infant School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Livingstone Road Infant School have?

Livingstone Road Infant School has 199 pupils on roll.

What age range does Livingstone Road Infant School cover?

Livingstone Road Infant School for pupils aged 2 to 7.

Where is Livingstone Road Infant School?

Livingstone Road Infant School is at Livingstone Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH12 3DT.