Marshbrook First School

Marshbrook First School is a caring, inclusive school where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from strong pastoral support. Inspectors found most areas—attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development—meeting expected standards, with safeguarding met. Early years children get a positive start, reading and phonics are prioritised, and pupils with SEND are well supported. However, achievement and curriculum and teaching need attention. Leaders' work to improve teaching is not yet fully embedded, and some pupils are not well prepared for their next steps. Writing foundations—handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar—are not consistently taught, curriculum delivery varies, and teachers do not always check understanding, leaving gaps for some pupils. The school is part of Penk Valley Academy Trust and serves 176 pupils. Leaders know the school well and have made effective improvements in mathematics and community links, but further work is needed to ensure the curriculum is taught consistently well and that all pupils build the foundational knowledge they need.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and behave well in a calm, orderly and caring school.
• Early years provides a vibrant, well-resourced start with a carefully sequenced curriculum.
• Reading and phonics are prioritised, with effective support for pupils who fall behind.
• Inclusion is strong, with clear systems to identify barriers and support pupils with SEND.
• Leaders know the school well and have improved mathematics and community links.
• Personal development is well planned through RSHE, enrichment and pupil leadership roles.
• Attendance strategies are effective and absence rates are below national averages.
• Governance and trust engagement provide effective oversight and support.
• Staff feel well supported and parents welcome the improvements leaders have made.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement needs attention, and some pupils are not well prepared for their next steps.
• Writing foundations are not consistently taught, including handwriting, punctuation, spelling and grammar.
• Teachers do not consistently check pupils' understanding, which leaves some pupils with gaps.
• Curriculum delivery varies, and some pupils are not supported well to complete work or progress from their starting points.
• Leaders' work to address weaknesses in teaching is not yet fully embedded.
• Some pupils lack enough opportunity to use and build on their knowledge in lessons.

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 Marshbrook First School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.1% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Marshbrook First 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 Marshbrook First School had 28.8 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, 10.8% of pupils at Marshbrook First School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.7% 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 Marshbrook First School received £6,543 and spent £6,969 for each of its 185 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £33,000 (-£177 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Penk Valley Academy Trust, income was £7,287 and spending £7,447 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 Stafford · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Marshbrook First School is part of Penk Valley Academy Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Princefield First School Stafford
• Penkridge Middle School Stafford
• Wolgarston High School Stafford
• The Rural Enterprise Academy Penkridge
• St Mary and St Chad CofE First School Stafford
• St John's CofE First School Stafford

What is Marshbrook First School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Marshbrook First School is Needs attention, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Marshbrook First School last inspected by Ofsted?

Marshbrook First School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Marshbrook First School have?

Marshbrook First School has 176 pupils on roll.

What age range does Marshbrook First School cover?

Marshbrook First School for pupils aged 2 to 9.

Where is Marshbrook First School?

Marshbrook First School is at Teddesley Road, Penkridge, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST19 5BA.