Garston Church of England Primary School

Garston Church of England Primary School is performing well overall. Inspectors found exceptional early years provision, strong attendance and behaviour, strong inclusion, strong leadership and governance, and strong personal development and wellbeing. Pupils are proud of their school, behave very well, feel safe and included, and benefit from a broad curriculum and wide enrichment offer. Published outcomes are above national averages, and disadvantaged pupils achieve particularly well, including above disadvantaged pupils nationally. The school is part of Rainbow Education Multi Academy Trust and has a Church of England religious character; this was a full section 5 inspection in June-July 2026, with safeguarding standards met. The main areas for development are in aspects of reading and writing. Some pupils in the early stages of learning to read do not yet read with enough fluency, and some pupils' writing contains errors that staff do not address consistently, including gaps in basic writing skills such as handwriting. Leaders' recent writing training has had a positive impact but is not yet fully embedded. Attendance is close to national figures and has improved rapidly for pupils who were absent most often, but leaders recognise that this work should continue. Overall, this is a strong school with exceptional early years provision, very effective inclusion and leadership, and outcomes that are above national averages. The next steps focus on strengthening early reading and writing practice and continuing to improve attendance.

Strengths

• Exceptional early years provision gives children an excellent start from age two
• Communication and language are central to early years teaching, helping rapid progress
• Highly effective transition arrangements, including 'Get Ready with Teddy', help children settle quickly
• Pupils behave very well and the school is calm, orderly and purposeful
• Bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly and effectively when it occurs
• Strategic attendance work has improved punctuality and rapidly improved the attendance of pupils who were absent most often
• Inclusion is highly effective, with early identification and well-planned SEND provision
• Pupils with SEND achieve well and learn successfully alongside their peers
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve significantly above disadvantaged pupils nationally
• Leadership and governance are very effective, with accurate self-evaluation and appropriate support and challenge
• Staff are well supported, receive useful training and have manageable workload
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is very effective and includes wide enrichment opportunities
• Pupils feel safe, valued and included, and build positive relationships
• Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of education and for life in modern Britain
• Safeguarding standards are met

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils in the early stages of learning to read do not read with enough fluency
• Some pupils' writing contains errors that staff do not address consistently
• Some pupils retain gaps in basic writing skills, including handwriting
• Approaches to improving writing are not yet fully embedded across the school
• Attendance requires continued improvement so that pupils who do not attend well come to school more often

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 Garston Church of England Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.6% 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, 0.8% of pupils at Garston Church of England 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 Garston Church of England Primary School had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.3% 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, 19.0% of pupils at Garston Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Garston Church of England Primary School received £7,561 and spent £7,378 for each of its 226 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £21,000 (£95 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Rainbow Education Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,615 and spending £7,643 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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All schools in Liverpool · Liverpool local authority: places and applications

Garston Church of England Primary School is part of Rainbow Education Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Heygreen Primary School Liverpool
• St Silas Church of England Primary School Liverpool
• St Gabriel's CofE Primary School Liverpool
• Well Lane Primary School Birkenhead
• Croxteth Community Primary School Liverpool
• Townfield Primary School Wirral
• The District CofE Primary School Newton-Le-Willows
• Shoreside Primary School Southport

What is Garston Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Garston Church of England Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Garston Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Garston Church of England Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Garston Church of England Primary School have?

Garston Church of England Primary School has 237 pupils on roll.

What age range does Garston Church of England Primary School cover?

Garston Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Garston Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 86% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Garston Church of England Primary School?

Garston Church of England Primary School is at Holman Road, Garston, Liverpool, Merseyside, L19 5NS.