St Luke's Park Primary School

St Luke's Park Primary School is a growing academy free school that opened in 2022 and is part of The Eveleigh LINK Academy Trust. This was its first routine section 5 inspection, and inspectors found the school performing well overall in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Pupils are happy and feel safe, behaviour is typically friendly and polite, and families value the school's close-knit community. Reading is a notable strength, with strong routines helping pupils develop accuracy and a love of books, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported with care and determination. The main area of concern is early years provision, which requires improvement. Changes in staffing have made it harder to develop the curriculum, and the curriculum lacks clarity about the most important knowledge and vocabulary children should learn. As a result, some children are not consistently clear about routines or activities and are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be. The school is taking considered steps to improve this, including more chances to revisit phonics, but the work is at an early stage. Another priority is writing. In most subjects pupils learn key ideas well, but some struggle to get their thoughts down on paper because teaching does not sufficiently address gaps in foundational spelling, punctuation and grammar. The school has begun to act on this, but it is also at an early stage. Safeguarding is effective, attendance is moving in a positive direction, and leaders have managed growth calmly with useful support from the trust and local authority.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, supported and happy at school.
• The reading programme is strong and helps pupils read with growing accuracy.
• Pupils typically achieve well across a range of subjects.
• Pupils with SEND are supported with care and determination.
• Behaviour is typically friendly and polite, with positive values and routines.
• Personal development opportunities build pupils' confidence and character.
• Leaders, trustees and governors work thoughtfully to support school improvement.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Attendance is improving through a consistent and supportive approach.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years provision requires improvement.
• The early years curriculum lacks clarity about key knowledge and vocabulary.
• Some children are unsure how to take part in activities or follow routines.
• Some children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be.
• Teaching of writing does not adequately address gaps in spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Some pupils struggle to write their thoughts down accurately and clearly.
• Some pupils' attendance has been lower than the school would like in recent years, although it is improving.

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 St Luke's Park Primary School attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.3% 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 St Luke's Park 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 St Luke's Park Primary School had 23.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.5% 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, 18.8% of pupils at St Luke's Park Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 St Luke's Park Primary School received £7,105 and spent £6,718 for each of its 138 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £38,000 (£276 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Quantum Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,221 and spending £7,291 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 Wickford · Essex local authority: places and applications

St Luke's Park Primary School is part of Quantum Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Great Baddow High School Chelmsford
• Larkrise Primary School Chelmsford
• Purleigh Community Primary School Chelmsford
• Meadgate Primary School Chelmsford
• Maltese Road Primary School Chelmsford
• Maylandsea Primary School Chelmsford
• Tiptree Heath Primary School Colchester

What is St Luke's Park Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Luke's Park Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Luke's Park Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Luke's Park Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Luke's Park Primary School have?

St Luke's Park Primary School has 176 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Luke's Park Primary School cover?

St Luke's Park Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

Where is St Luke's Park Primary School?

St Luke's Park Primary School is at Liberty Way, Runwell, Wickford, Essex, SS11 7LH.