Mesne Lea Primary School

Mesne Lea Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school within Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, with resourced provision for 12 pupils with autism and an above-average proportion of pupils with SEN support and EHC plans. The inspection found that most areas of the school's work are secure and meeting expected standards. Leaders have created an inclusive, caring environment where pupils feel safe and valued, behaviour is typically calm and respectful, attendance has improved, and the curriculum is coherent and ambitious. Early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development, and attendance and behaviour are all positive features.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met through an open and positive culture.
• Attendance strategies have led to significantly reduced persistent absence and lateness.
• Behaviour approaches are clear and consistent, with pupils typically respectful and lessons calm.
• Bullying, discrimination and unkind behaviour are addressed quickly and consistently.
• The curriculum is ambitious, coherent and carefully sequenced, with reading, writing and mathematics prioritised.
• Phonics teaching is consistent and effective.
• Early years provides calm routines, caring relationships and strong support for early reading and language.
• Inclusion is central; pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are identified early and supported well.
• The specially resourced SEND provision adapts effectively to individual needs and keeps pupils part of the school community.
• Leadership and governance are clear about roles, legal duties and improvement priorities.
• Staff wellbeing, workload and professional development are well supported.
• Personal development is woven through school life, helping pupils build confidence, resilience and understanding of values and safety.
• Pupils take on responsibilities and benefit from clubs, music, careers events and wider opportunities.
• High-quality engagement with parents, carers and the community supports safety, attendance and readiness to learn.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is variable, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
• Some pupils have gaps in learning and struggle to recall key concepts.
• A considerable proportion of pupils do not progress as well as they could from their starting points.
• Some pupils are not as well prepared as they could be for the next stage of education.
• In some subjects and lessons, misconceptions are not identified or addressed quickly enough.
• Checks on individual pupils' understanding are sometimes not precise, slowing progress.
• A small number of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, continue to miss learning through poor attendance.
• Persistent absence remains above the national average.
• Disadvantaged pupils' 2024/25 outcomes were below national averages in combined reading, writing and mathematics, reading, and mathematics.
• Early years opportunities to build children's independent thinking are sometimes limited.

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 Mesne Lea Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% 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, 1.6% of pupils at Mesne Lea 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 Mesne Lea Primary School had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.6% 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, 21.8% of pupils at Mesne Lea Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 6 pupils.

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 Mesne Lea Primary School received £7,163 and spent £6,729 for each of its 427 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £303,000 (£709 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, income was £6,887 and spending £6,506 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 Manchester · Salford local authority: places and applications

Mesne Lea Primary School is part of Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Prestolee Primary School Manchester
• Barton Moss Community Primary School Manchester
• Bowness Primary School Bolton
• Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School Salford
• The Derby High School Lancs
• Tottington Primary School Bury
• Springside Primary School Bury
• Waterloo Primary School Ashton-Under-Lyne
• Hollingworth Primary School Hyde

What is Mesne Lea Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Mesne Lea Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Mesne Lea Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Mesne Lea Primary School have?

Mesne Lea Primary School has 441 pupils on roll.

What age range does Mesne Lea Primary School cover?

Mesne Lea Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Mesne Lea Primary School?

Mesne Lea Primary School is at Walkden Road, Walkden, Worsley, Manchester, M28 7FG.