Thingwall Primary School

Thingwall Primary School is a small school that is performing well overall. This was its first inspection since joining Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust, and safeguarding standards are met. The strongest areas are attendance and behaviour and personal development and wellbeing: pupils attend regularly, behave with respect, and benefit from a wide range of enrichment, pastoral care and community projects. Pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, are well supported and feel safe. Across achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion and leadership and governance, the school is meeting expected standards. Pupils generally progress well, read and use number effectively, and leave Year 6 in line with or above national outcomes in reading, mathematics and writing. However, writing is less consistent: some pupils form letters incorrectly and spell inaccurately, and teachers do not always identify or close these gaps. Some activities, including in early years, are not consistently designed to deepen understanding or reinforce intended learning. Leaders know the school well and governance and staff support are effective, but quality assurance does not yet consistently address the writing and task-design issues.

Strengths

• Attendance is consistently above the national average, with very few pupils persistently absent.
• Leaders take a meticulous approach to tackling absence and work closely with families.
• Pupils behave consistently well, show respect and courtesy, and manage routines calmly.
• Bullying and discrimination are rare and are dealt with quickly and successfully.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is well thought out and broad.
• Pupils take part in meaningful community projects, including an intergenerational project and democracy work.
• Every pupil, including those with SEND or disadvantage, attends at least one extra-curricular club.
• Pupils receive highly effective pastoral care and know a trusted adult to speak to.
• Inclusion is strong: SEND and disadvantaged pupils receive timely, well-targeted support.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding effectively to narrow gaps and enable enrichment.
• Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at the school, and leaders consider workload and wellbeing.
• Governance is effective, statutory duties are met, and safeguarding is prioritised.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement in writing is more variable than in reading and mathematics.
• Some pupils form letters incorrectly and do not spell accurately, which hinders clear and fluent communication.
• Teachers do not consistently identify the gaps some pupils have in writing skills.
• Some learning activities, including for pupils with SEND, are not well designed to secure depth of understanding.
• Early years staff sometimes do not reinforce learning well enough, such as resolving letter-formation difficulties.
• Some early years activities do not help children learn the intended curriculum content.
• Leaders' checks do not consistently ensure teachers address gaps in pupils' writing.

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 Thingwall Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.0% 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, 2.5% of pupils at Thingwall 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 Thingwall Primary School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.4% 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, 22.8% of pupils at Thingwall Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.1% 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 Thingwall Primary School received £7,114 and spent £6,771 for each of its 201 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £85,000 (£425 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust, income was £8,110 and spending £7,287 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 Wirral · Wirral local authority: places and applications

Thingwall Primary School is part of Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Irby Primary School Wirral
• Greasby Junior School Wirral
• Heswall Primary School Wirral
• Orrets Meadow School Wirral
• Hilbre High School Wirral
• Brackenwood Junior School Wirral
• Black Horse Hill Junior School Wirral
• Stanton Road Primary School Wirral
• Poulton Lancelyn Primary School Wirral
• Church Drive Primary School Wirral

What is Thingwall Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thingwall Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Thingwall Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thingwall Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Thingwall Primary School have?

Thingwall Primary School has 197 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thingwall Primary School cover?

Thingwall Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 79% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Thingwall Primary School?

Thingwall Primary School is at Pensby Road, Thingwall, Wirral, Merseyside, CH61 7UG.