Emmanuel Church of England Middle School

Emmanuel Middle Church of England Middle School has been rated as good in multiple areas, indicating a solid performance in providing quality education and support for its pupils. It creates a welcoming environment where students feel safe and valued, and effective teaching strategies help them enjoy their learning. The school promotes a strong sense of community and character development, with many opportunities for extracurricular involvement. However, improvements are needed in ensuring consistent subject knowledge among teachers and addressing attendance issues for a small number of pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and are happy at school.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious.
• Strong relationships between pupils and staff foster a caring environment.
• The school provides effective support for pupils who struggle with reading.
• There are many opportunities for character and leadership development.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent subject knowledge among some teachers.
• A small number of pupils do not attend school regularly.

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 Emmanuel Church of England Middle School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 12.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 2.1% of pupils at Emmanuel Church of England Middle School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 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 Emmanuel Church of England Middle School had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 11.3% of pupils at Emmanuel Church of England Middle School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Emmanuel Church of England Middle School received £6,310 and spent £6,330 for each of its 439 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £90,000 (£205 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of Initio Learning Trust, income was £7,286 and spending £7,320 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.

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Dorset · Dorset local authority: places and applications

Emmanuel Church of England Middle School is part of Initio Learning Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Verwood Church of England First School Verwood
• Hillside Community First School Verwood
• Colehill First School Wimborne
• Hayeswood First School Wimborne
• St Michael's Church of England Middle School, Colehill Wimborne
• Witchampton Church of England First School Wimborne
• St John's Church of England First School, Wimborne Wimborne
• Allenbourn Middle School Wimborne
• Queen Elizabeth's School Wimborne
• Merley First School Wimborne

What is Emmanuel Church of England Middle School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Emmanuel Church of England Middle School is Good, from an inspection in June 2022.

When was Emmanuel Church of England Middle School last inspected by Ofsted?

Emmanuel Church of England Middle School was last inspected in June 2022.

How many pupils does Emmanuel Church of England Middle School have?

Emmanuel Church of England Middle School has 434 pupils on roll.

What age range does Emmanuel Church of England Middle School cover?

Emmanuel Church of England Middle School for pupils aged 9 to 13.

What are Emmanuel Church of England Middle School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 65% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Emmanuel Church of England Middle School?

Emmanuel Church of England Middle School is at Howe Lane, Verwood, BH31 6JF.