School Chooser

Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil684 pupilsNurserySlough
School Chooser Score
95
Well above
similar schools
Likely range 91 to 98
Out of 100. Better than 86% of the 50 schools most like it. Getting better year on year.
OfstedNo overall gradeLast Ofsted inspection, July 2025
Reached the expected level at 1183%England 63%
Attendance93.7%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families33%A bit more than most schools
Places50 spare684 pupils, 734 places
Pupils per teacher21.0School workforce census

Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School is a council school in Slough for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 684 pupils and room for 734. About 33 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit more than at most schools. We give it 95 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 86% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.

Penn Road, Slough, SL2 1PH01753 521811pennwood.slough.sch.ukMrs Claire Fletcher headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 15 July 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Outstanding
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Outstanding
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Outstanding
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Outstanding
Early years
Outstanding
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes
Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
31 January 2024UngradedSchool remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

90 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1183%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level17%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score108.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 55%55%20172018: 74%74%20182019: 68%68%20192023: 67%67%20232024: 74%74%20242025: 83%83%2025
Since 2017: +28%Improving overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017SloughEngland
Pupils tested908886889060
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths83%74%67%68%74%55%70%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths17%14%9%15%13%5%12%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0105.0105.0104.0105.0102.0106.4105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score108.0107.0106.0107.0108.0106.0106.3104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score109.0108.0107.0111.0111.0110.0107.8105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard88%78%73%72%81%62%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard88%83%79%90%89%80%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)89%90%88%88%83%87%
Reading progressReading progress score+0.9+2.4+1.8-1.2
Maths progressMaths progress score+2.7+4.1+5.0+2.6
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged76%63%57%56%60%54%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged88%80%75%73%82%56%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
76%88%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
81%86%
Gap 5 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
87%83%
Gap 4 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
16%17%
Gap 1 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Nearly full629 pupils for 630 places, 2024/25
100% full

Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.

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 Slough council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll684Census January 2026
Places73493% full
Pupils from low-income families30%33% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English88%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support19%131 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan5%32 pupils with a plan
Average class size29.821 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)33%£316,200 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls366 / 318
White British pupils3%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 29.7 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 29.9 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (100), emotional and mental health (32), Moderate learning difficulty (12), Autistic spectrum disorder (9), Specific learning difficulty (5), Hearing impairment (3).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll684697692694705710
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals30%30%27%26%25%25%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language88%87%88%89%72%78%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support18%18%19%15%14%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%3%3%2%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance93.7%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school16.7%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils2.02024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.1%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence6.3%6.4%7.5%6.8%5.1%3.8%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence5.2%4.7%5.4%4.5%3.3%2.7%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.1%1.7%2.0%2.3%1.9%1.1%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence16.7%21.7%24.6%21.0%13.9%6.3%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate2.02.00.11.40.9
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

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

Teachers31.3full-time equivalent, 35 people
Pupils per teacher21.0Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers97%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants30.9full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£55,701
Teachers who left in the year20%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies1
Sick days per teacher4.02024/25

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£7,571England £7,738. Total £5.1m
Income per pupil£7,434England £7,697. Total £5.0m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,244England £3,480
Money in reserve3%Very little put by: £133k, £199 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£92kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£7,571spent per pupil

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 m36312 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate70 per 1,000 people23% lower than the England average
Typical house price£387,250Slough
Nearest bus stop340 mCanterbury Avenue, 4 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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Anthony's Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy540 m470Not inspected40Compare
St Mary's Farnham Royal CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England600 m256No overall grade 202410Compare
Phoenix Infant AcademyAcademy840 m262Not inspectedCompare
The Godolphin Junior AcademyAcademy880 m413Not inspected97Compare
Claycots SchoolCouncil0.7 miles1,605Good 202448Compare
James Elliman AcademyAcademy1.0 miles687Good 202493Compare
Khalsa Primary SchoolAcademy1.2 miles529Outstanding 202097Compare
Lynch Hill School Primary AcademyAcademy1.3 miles832Good 202274Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School with the 50 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats86%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the top quarter of its group. Its score of 95 is 27 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 1 · middle 68 · highest 99100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 95 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 95% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 91 to 98. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.18
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 90 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%well above
+0.43
Ofsted grade, 1.2 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.21
DfE progress measure; 90 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%well above
+0.12
results and attendance rising year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%below
-0.06
2024/25; 562 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.06
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 90 pupils
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School scores 95 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 86% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 91 to 98, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been getting better over the last five years.

What is Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School not judged at its last full inspection on 15 July 2025.

How good are Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 83% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 17% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School have?

684 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 734 places, so it is 93% full.

Is Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School oversubscribed?

Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.

What is attendance like at Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School?

Pupils were in school 93.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 17% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School?

The average class had 29.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

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

Contact and details

Address
Penn Road, Slough, SL2 1PH
Telephone
01753 521811
Website
www.pennwood.slough.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Claire Fletcher
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Slough
Ward
Manor Park & Stoke
Constituency
Slough
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
15 April 1996
URN
130372 · LAESTAB 8712255 · UKPRN 10075307
Formerly
William Penn Nursery School, William Penn Middle School, William Penn First School

Where these figures come from