Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School
Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School is a local authority nursery school in Warrington for boys and girls aged 2 to 4. It has 102 pupils. About 9 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2023.
Sandy Lane, Orford, Warrington, WA2 9HY01925 623640sandylanenurseryandforestschool.co.ukMiss Marcia Atherton headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 14 March 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
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 Warrington council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. SEN unit with 22 pupils, for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment.
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 Warrington with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (15), Autistic spectrum disorder (8), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (4), emotional and mental health (2), Physical disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 102 | 96 | 92 | 104 | 100 | 103 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 3% | 2% | 9% | 6% | 6% | 2% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 25% | 28% | 28% | 21% | 19% | 21% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 19% | 24% | 27% | 22% | 20% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 10% | 2% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
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.
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
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.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Stephen's Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 160 m | 199 | Good 2023 | 58 | Compare |
| St Andrew's CofE Primary School | Academy | 390 m | – | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Meadowside Community Primary and Nursery School | Academy | 440 m | 255 | Good 2023 | 13 | Compare |
| Warrington and Vale Royal College | Further education | 750 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Beamont Collegiate Academy | Academy | 880 m | 890 | Good 2022 | 48 | Compare |
| St Margaret's Church of England Primary School | Academy | 910 m | 460 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Dallam Community Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 265 | Good 2023 | 82 | Compare |
| Warrington St Ann's Church of England Primary Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | – | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School a good school?
Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in March 2023.
What is Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School outstanding at its last full inspection on 14 March 2023.
How many pupils does Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School have?
102 pupils aged 2 to 4 were on the roll in January 2026.
Does Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has sen unit for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment. 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
- Sandy Lane, Orford, Warrington, WA2 9HY
- Telephone
- 01925 623640
- Website
- www.sandylanenurseryandforestschool.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Miss Marcia Atherton
- 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
- Warrington
- Ward
- Poplars and Hulme
- Constituency
- Warrington North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 110956 · LAESTAB 8771004
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.