Southtown Primary School

Southtown Primary School is a smaller-than-average primary school within Kingfisher Schools Trust, serving a community with above-average disadvantage and high proportions of pupils with SEND, including a specialist speech, language and communication resourced provision. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is performing at the expected standard in early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Leaders have worked to stabilise the school following a period of previous instability, and the trust provides effective support and challenge. Pupils feel safe, behaviour has improved, SEND support is typically effective, and pupils benefit from a broad enrichment offer.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
• Early years provision is ambitious, well sequenced and effectively delivered.
• Inclusion is a clear focus, and leaders have a strong overview of pupils' needs.
• Pupils with SEND receive consistent, personalised support across classes.
• The specialist speech and language provision supports pupils well, including pupils from other schools.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with appropriate trust support and challenge.
• Staff feel supported, and leaders consider staff wellbeing and workload.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is coherent and prioritised.
• Pupils learn about mental health, healthy lifestyles, relationships and British values.
• A wide enrichment offer, including clubs, trips and lunchtime provision, develops confidence, teamwork and resilience.
• Behaviour expectations have improved, and behaviour incidents have reduced.
• Pupils report that they feel safe and that adults help them when they are worried.
• Staff form positive relationships with pupils and know them well.
• Parents are engaged through regular communication and sessions such as weekly drop-ins.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement in key stage 2 reading, writing and mathematics has been below national averages for three years.
• Year 1 phonics screening outcomes have been consistently below national averages.
• Too many pupils are not well prepared for the move to secondary school.
• The curriculum is not taught consistently well across subjects.
• Staff do not consistently use assessment information to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge and address misconceptions.
• Some pupils move on to new learning without having secured earlier knowledge, limiting their progress.
• Teaching is not always adapted precisely enough, so learning sometimes slows.
• Gaps remain in pupils' basic knowledge of reading, writing and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes and progress gaps remain substantial.
• Overall attendance and persistent absence have been well above national averages for three years.
• Many pupils, including pupils with SEND, miss key learning because of poor attendance.
• Attendance is not yet everyone's responsibility, and further work is needed to improve regular attendance.
• Improvements to the curriculum and teaching are at an early stage, so their full impact is not yet evident.

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 Southtown Primary School attended 89.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 33.0% 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, 10.4% of pupils at Southtown Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 2 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 Southtown Primary School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.4% 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, 22.4% of pupils at Southtown Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.3% 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 Southtown Primary School received £8,553 and spent £8,050 for each of its 201 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £13,000 (£66 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Kingfisher Schools Trust, income was £7,914 and spending £8,139 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 Great Yarmouth · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Southtown Primary School is part of Kingfisher Schools Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Northgate Primary School Great Yarmouth
• Roman Hill Primary School Lowestoft
• Sir John Leman High School Beccles
• Alde Valley Academy Leiston
• Snape Primary School Saxmundham
• Stowmarket High School Stowmarket

What is Southtown Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Southtown Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Southtown Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Southtown Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Southtown Primary School have?

Southtown Primary School has 183 pupils on roll.

What age range does Southtown Primary School cover?

Southtown Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Southtown Primary School?

Southtown Primary School is at Tamworth Lane, Southtown, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR31 0HJ.