Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personHead not listed

corporate_fareTHE HEATH ACADEMY TRUST

location_onFerndown, BH22 0JF

language Visit Website phone 1202874838

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

162

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Demand Ratio

1.0x

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St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery is a Academy converter primary school in Ferndown, serving ages 2-9. Rated Good by Ofsted.

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School Summary

St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery is an academy converter in Ferndown, Dorset, admitting pupils aged 2-9. It is part of THE HEATH ACADEMY TRUST. The school has approximately 136 pupils on roll, of whom 22% are eligible for free school meals.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Good.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 28.2:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.0 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

23 April 2025

Inspection Report

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18 October 2023

Inspection Report

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21 March 2018

Inspection Report

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08 December 2015

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

4 Evaluations

2025-04-23

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

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Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

2018-03-21

None Legacy

No Judgement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

Development

Leadership

2011-03-22

S5 Inspection Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2007-09-12

None EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.0%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.0%(0 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 136 pupils. During this period, there were 0 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.0%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	136	0	0.0%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	138	0	0.0%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	156	0	0.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	158	2	1.3%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	154	8	5.2%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	166	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	162	1	0.6%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	159	1	0.6%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	174	1	0.6%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	176	5	2.8%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	171	3	1.8%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	180	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	182	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	176	2	1.1%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	169	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	169	3	1.8%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	166	3	1.8%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	178	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	178	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	166	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	185	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	182	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	176	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	128	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	131	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	132	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Specific Learning Difficulty 6 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 4 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 3 pupils

Physical Disability 3 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 2 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 2 pupils

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St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery

School Summary

Academic Performance

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Church of England)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in Dorset

Bovington Academy

St Nicholas and St Laurence Church of England Primary School

Conifers Primary School

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage

Trent Young's CofE Primary School

St Ives Primary & Nursery School