The Ambleside Centre
The Ambleside Centre is a local authority nursery school in Reading for boys and girls aged 3 to 5. It has 99 pupils. About 0 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 2021.
Ambleside Close, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4JJ0118 377 6444ambleside.wokingham.sch.ukMrs Kerrie Clifford head teacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 23 November 2021 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.
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 Wokingham council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school), for hearing 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 Wokingham with hearing impairment provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (14), Autistic spectrum disorder (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 99 | 107 | 118 | 122 | 119 | 119 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 21% | 22% | 18% | 23% | 21% | 21% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 9% | 12% | 7% | 7% | 11% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beechwood Primary School | Academy | 20 m | 244 | Requires improvement 2023 | 5 | Compare |
| South Lake Primary School | Academy | 660 m | 443 | No overall grade 2025 | 86 | Compare |
| Rivermead Primary School | Academy | 670 m | 429 | Report card 2026 | 75 | Compare |
| St Dominic Savio Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 670 m | 420 | Outstanding 2020 | 100 | Compare |
| Highwood Primary School | Academy | 860 m | 429 | Good 2021 | – | Compare |
| Addington School | Academy | 950 m | 311 | Outstanding 2023 | – | Compare |
| The Bulmershe School | Academy | 950 m | 1,530 | Not inspected | 69 | Compare |
| Willow Bank Infant School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 152 | Good 2022 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Ambleside Centre a good school?
The Ambleside Centre doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in November 2021.
What is The Ambleside Centre's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Ambleside Centre outstanding at its last full inspection on 23 November 2021. 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 The Ambleside Centre have?
99 pupils aged 3 to 5 were on the roll in January 2026.
Does The Ambleside Centre have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) for hearing 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
- Ambleside Close, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4JJ
- Telephone
- 0118 377 6444
- Website
- www.ambleside.wokingham.sch.uk
- Head Teacher
- Mrs Kerrie Clifford
- Type of school
- Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Nursery school, ages 3-5, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Wokingham
- Ward
- South Lake
- Constituency
- Earley and Woodley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 109759 · LAESTAB 8721017
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.