Lily Lane Primary School

Lily Lane Primary School is a large primary in a highly deprived part of Moston with a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils. This full inspection followed a focused monitoring visit prompted by complaints and negative press coverage, and inspectors found the school performing significantly less well than it might. Safeguarding is met and pupils generally feel safe, but the quality of education is not yet good enough across the school. Curriculum thinking is well developed, yet classroom delivery is inconsistent, and this is compounded by weak achievement, poor attendance and disruptive behaviour. Strengths include a coherent curriculum design, improving early years provision, strong personal development and enrichment, effective trust support, and some effective practice in individual subjects and early reading. However, too many pupils, especially those with SEND or from disadvantaged backgrounds, do not receive accurate identification or consistent support. Published outcomes remain low, gaps in spelling, handwriting and grammar persist, and persistent absence is high. Behaviour is inconsistent, with low-level disruption in most classes, and some staff and parents lack confidence in leaders' communication and behaviour management. The trust provides sustained support and leaders understand the school's challenges, but staffing instability and inconsistent expectations mean improvements are not embedded. Urgent work is needed to improve attendance, make behaviour management consistent, strengthen SEND practice, and ensure the curriculum is delivered effectively so pupils build secure knowledge.

Strengths

• Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements and pupils feel safe.
• Leaders have designed a well-structured curriculum from early years to Year 6 that builds logically.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and the improvement journey.
• The trust provides regular, sustained support, including coaching and challenge for school leaders.
• Trustees bring strong expertise and scrutinise leaders' work appropriately.
• Early years staff build warm, trusting relationships so children settle quickly and feel safe.
• Early years staff know children's starting points and skilfully model language and vocabulary.
• Reading is prioritised, with systematic phonics teaching in Reception.
• Personal development is ambitious and coherently planned, covering beliefs, ethics, cultures and British values.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of cultural, sporting and creative enrichment, including subsidised clubs and trips.
• Pupils take on leadership roles and understand responsibility and democratic processes.
• Behaviour during less-structured times is more positive, and serious behaviour incidents have reduced.
• Some subjects, such as Spanish, show clear modelling, effective questioning and helpful adaptations.
• Pupils understand bullying and trust staff to act on concerns.
• The local governing committee is developing well with new governors bringing useful skills.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is weak across the school, with too few pupils reaching expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Published outcomes remain consistently low and show little improvement over time.
• Phonics screening results remain stubbornly low despite slight improvement.
• Most pupils do not build secure knowledge as they move through year groups.
• Curriculum delivery varies considerably, and tasks often do not match intended learning.
• Adaptations for pupils with SEND are not used reliably, limiting their access to the curriculum.
• Identification of SEND is uneven and sometimes inaccurate, leading to gaps in support.
• SEND plans lack clear, specific actions, and a small group with complex needs lack specialist teaching.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those known to social care do not receive consistently effective support.
• Leaders do not evaluate interventions for disadvantaged pupils closely enough.
• Expectations for spelling, handwriting and grammar are inconsistent, and gaps are not addressed quickly.
• Children leave Reception without secure foundations for Year 1, and catch-up support quality is inconsistent.
• Attendance is too low, and persistent absence remains well above national averages.
• Leaders' actions to improve attendance have not secured rapid enough improvement.
• Behaviour is highly inconsistent, with low-level disruption in most classes.
• Behaviour often deteriorates when staff do not apply the behaviour policy or when classes are covered.
• A significant number of pupils show a lack of respect towards peers and staff.
• Poor behaviour hinders pupils' learning and limits the impact of the personal development programme.
• Some staff do not feel supported and are not confident raising concerns with leaders.
• Parents and carers express worries about behaviour, progress and communication, particularly for pupils with SEND.
• Staffing instability and inconsistent expectations mean improvements are not embedded.
• Leaders have not secured the quality of education and positive behaviour that pupils deserve.

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 Lily Lane Primary School attended 92.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.2% 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, 3.7% of pupils at Lily Lane Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Lily Lane Primary School had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.5% 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, 17.7% of pupils at Lily Lane Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.2% 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 Lily Lane Primary School received £8,216 and spent £8,079 for each of its 617 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £330,000 (£534 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Changing Lives in Collaboration, income was £7,528 and spending £7,581 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 Manchester · Manchester local authority: places and applications

Lily Lane Primary School is part of Changing Lives in Collaboration, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Crosslee Community Primary School Manchester
• Rolls Crescent Primary School Manchester
• Dane Bank Primary School Stockport
• Ravensfield Primary School Dukinfield
• Old Moat Primary School Manchester
• Chorlton Park Primary Manchester

What is Lily Lane Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lily Lane Primary School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Lily Lane Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lily Lane Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Lily Lane Primary School have?

Lily Lane Primary School has 598 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lily Lane Primary School cover?

Lily Lane Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 44% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lily Lane Primary School?

Lily Lane Primary School is at 74 Kenyon Lane, Moston, Manchester, M40 9JP.