Dorothy Gardner Nursery School

Nursery · ages 2-5MixedLocal authority nursery school71 pupilsNurseryLondon Westminster

School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWe don't score this type of school.

OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, May 2022

Pupils from low-income families38%Far more than most schools

Pupils per teacher25.8School workforce census

Pupils on roll71Census January 2026

Dorothy Gardner Nursery School is a local authority nursery school in London for boys and girls aged 2 to 5. It has 71 pupils. About 38 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.

293 Shirland Road, 293 Shirland Rd, London, W9 3JY020 8969 5835qpeyfed.orgMr Ben Commins headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 24 May 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”

Good

BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”

Outstanding

WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”

Outstanding

LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”

Good

Safeguarding

Effective

Yes

This inspection is more than 4 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Westminster council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll71Census January 2026

Pupils from low-income families58%38% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years

Pupils learning English44%First language is not English

Pupils getting extra support48%34 pupils with SEN support

Pupils with an EHC plan6%4 pupils with a plan

Boys and girls39 / 32

White British pupils10%

Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) with 24 pupils, for autism, multi-sensory impairment, speech, language and communication.

To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Westminster with autism provision.

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (29), Autistic spectrum disorder (9).

How the mix of pupils has changed

Census	2026	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Pupils on roll	71	70	74	79	76	66
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals	58%	40%	41%	41%	17%	26%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language	44%	37%	42%	71%	71%	64%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support	–	29%	23%	28%	22%	29%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans	–	4%	10%	5%	5%	3%

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers2.0full-time equivalent, 2 people

Pupils per teacher25.8Pupils for every full-time teacher

Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status

Teaching assistants7.9full-time equivalent

Teachers who left in the year100%2024/25, for any reason including retirement

Vacancies0

Sick days per teacher0.82024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£38,717England £7,738. Total £1.8m

Income per pupil£38,603England £7,697. Total £1.8m

Spent on teachers per pupil£8,754England £3,480

Money in reserve20%A lot put by: £358k, £7,786 per pupil. England 6%

Money in against money out-£5,225it spent more than it took in this year

Where the money goes£38,717spent per pupil

23%41%24%

Teachers 23%Support staff 41%Buildings 7%Learning resources 2%Catering 3%Energy 1%Everything else 24%

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m2,58712 months to June 2026, mostly anti-social behaviour

Local crime rate101 per 1,000 people11% higher than the England average

Nearest bus stop10 mFordingley Road, 24 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored

School	Type	Distance	Pupils	Ofsted	Score
Mary Paterson Nursery School	Local authority nursery school	100 m	61	Outstanding 2023	–	Compare
Maida Vale School	Independent (grammar)	220 m	197	Not inspected	–	Compare
St Luke's CofE Primary School	Church of England	380 m	186	Outstanding 2022	91	Compare
Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee School	Council	390 m	93	Not inspected	–	Compare
The Kilburn Park School Foundation	Foundation	390 m	55	Good 2019	23	Compare
Carlton Vale Infant School	Council	400 m	44	Good 2023	29	Compare
The St Marylebone Church of England Bridge School	Free school	430 m	71	Not inspected	–	Compare
Queen's Park Primary School	Council	470 m	245	Good 2022	52	Compare

All schools in Westminster All schools in London Best primary schools in England

Questions parents ask

Is Dorothy Gardner Nursery School a good school?

Dorothy Gardner Nursery School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in May 2022.

What is Dorothy Gardner Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Dorothy Gardner Nursery School good at its last full inspection on 24 May 2022. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.

How many pupils does Dorothy Gardner Nursery School have?

71 pupils aged 2 to 5 were on the roll in January 2026.

Does Dorothy Gardner Nursery School have specialist SEND provision?

Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) for autism, multi-sensory impairment, speech, language and communication. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address: 293 Shirland Road, 293 Shirland Rd, London, W9 3JY
Telephone: 020 8969 5835
Website: www.qpeyfed.org
Headteacher: Mr Ben Commins
Type of school: Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase: Nursery school, ages 2-5, with nursery
Gender: Mixed
Local authority: Westminster
Ward: Queen's Park
Constituency: Queen's Park and Maida Vale
Setting: Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN: 101105 · LAESTAB 2131046

Official record Ofsted reports Government performance tables Download this school's data (CSV)

Where these figures come from

School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.