Dove Bank Primary School

Dove Bank Primary School is a caring, inclusive school where pupils are happy, behave well and attend well. Inspectors found strong practice in attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met. The school knows its community well, supports families, and provides effective pastoral care, especially for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. Reading and early years are particular strengths, and staff feel well supported.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture with strong support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Strong early years provision that prepares children well for Year 1.
• Effective attendance work and strong pastoral support for families.
• Pupils behave well, feel safe and are kind and respectful.
• Strong leadership and governance with high expectations and good staff development.
• Personal development programme builds confidence, resilience and responsibility.
• Reading is a particular strength, with effective teaching and well-chosen books.
• Warm relationships and quick response to bullying or unkind behaviour.
• Wide enrichment opportunities, including music, sport, outdoor education and performances.
• Staff wellbeing is valued and staff feel supported.

Areas for Improvement

• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes in combined reading, writing and mathematics are well below national averages in the latest data.
• Disadvantaged pupils' mathematics outcomes are well below national averages, with a large disadvantage gap.
• Overall mathematics attainment was below the national average in 2024/25.
• Staff do not consistently identify and correct errors in letter and number formation quickly enough.
• Pupils do not consistently get opportunities to connect and apply knowledge across subjects to deepen understanding.

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 Dove Bank Primary School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.0% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Dove Bank 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 Dove Bank Primary School had 26.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.0% 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, 23.1% of pupils at Dove Bank Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% 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 Dove Bank Primary School received £7,541 and spent £7,195 for each of its 178 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £236,000 (£1,328 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of The Learning Partnership Academies Trust, income was £7,536 and spending £7,682 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 Stoke-On-Trent · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Dove Bank Primary School is part of The Learning Partnership Academies Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Castle Primary School Stoke-On-Trent
• Daven Primary School Congleton
• Congleton High School Congleton
• Black Firs Primary School Congleton
• Wheelock Primary School Sandbach
• Sir William Stanier School Crewe
• Cheshire Studio School Crewe
• Crewe Engineering and Design UTC Crewe
• Shavington Primary School Crewe
• The Oaks Academy Crewe

What is Dove Bank Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dove Bank Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Dove Bank Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Dove Bank Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Dove Bank Primary School have?

Dove Bank Primary School has 225 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dove Bank Primary School cover?

Dove Bank Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

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

Where is Dove Bank Primary School?

Dove Bank Primary School is at Off Rutland Road, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 4AP.