School Chooser

Rainhill Community Nursery

Nursery · ages 2-4MixedLocal authority nursery school50 pupilsNurseryPrescotSt. Helens
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWe don't score this type of school.
OfstedStrong teachingOfsted report card, April 2026
Pupils from low-income families0%Far fewer than most schools
Pupils per teacher21.5School workforce census
Pupils on roll50Census January 2026

Rainhill Community Nursery is a local authority nursery school in Prescot for boys and girls aged 2 to 4. It has 50 pupils. About 0 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in April 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.

Deepdale Drive, Rainhill, Prescot, L35 4NW01744 677635rainhillnursery.st-helens.sch.ukMiss Emma Nicholson headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted visited on 28 April 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.

TeachingOfsted calls this “curriculum and teaching”
Strong
Achievement
Strong
Behaviour and attendanceOfsted calls this “attendance and behaviour”
Strong
Support for every childOfsted calls this “inclusion”
Strong
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development and wellbeing”
Strong
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and governance”
Strong
SafeguardingAre pupils kept safe?
Pupils are kept safe
Met
Ofsted's scale:ExceptionalStrong standardExpected standardNeeds attentionUrgent improvement

Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.

Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
18 November 2021UngradedSchool remains Outstanding

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 St. Helens council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll50Census January 2026
Pupils from low-income families0%0% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English2%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support12%6 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan4%2 pupils with a plan
Boys and girls25 / 25
White British pupils90%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (6), Autistic spectrum disorder (2).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll505463616068
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals0%0%0%0%0%0%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language2%11%2%3%2%2%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support17%18%5%5%6%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans0%2%0%2%0%

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 teacher21.5Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants6.0full-time equivalent
Teachers who left in the year0%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0

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£11,929England £7,738. Total £477k
Income per pupil£14,288England £7,697. Total £572k
Spent on teachers per pupil£4,043England £3,480
Money in reserve29%A lot put by: £164k, £4,101 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£94kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£11,929spent 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 m5912 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate59 per 1,000 people35% lower than the England average
Nearest bus stop280 mLawton Road, 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Rainhill High SchoolAcademy530 m1,535Good 202347Compare
St Ann's Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy590 m404No overall grade 202587Compare
Oakdene Primary AcademyAcademy750 m206Good 2024Compare
Tower CollegeIndependent (grammar)0.6 miles279Not inspectedCompare
St Bartholomew's Catholic Primary SchoolRoman Catholic0.7 miles279Not inspected95Compare
Longton Lane Community Primary SchoolCouncil0.8 miles284Good 202439Compare
St John Vianney Catholic Primary SchoolRoman Catholic0.9 miles195Report card 202660Compare
Sutton Manor Community Primary SchoolCouncil1.1 miles209Good 202216Compare

Questions parents ask

Is Rainhill Community Nursery a good school?

Rainhill Community Nursery doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from April 2026 rated its teaching as strong.

What is Rainhill Community Nursery's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 28 April 2026 it rated teaching as strong, achievement as strong, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as strong.

How many pupils does Rainhill Community Nursery have?

50 pupils aged 2 to 4 were on the roll in January 2026.

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

Contact and details

Address
Deepdale Drive, Rainhill, Prescot, L35 4NW
Telephone
01744 677635
Website
www.rainhillnursery.st-helens.sch.uk
Headteacher
Miss Emma Nicholson
Type of school
Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Nursery school, ages 2-4, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
St. Helens
Ward
Rainhill
Constituency
St Helens South and Whiston
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 September 1995
URN
131447 · LAESTAB 3421001

Where these figures come from