The Quay School
The Quay School is an academy alternative provision converter in Poole for boys and girls aged 5 to 18. It has 69 pupils and room for 133. About 72 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
160 Herbert Avenue, Poole, BH12 4HU01202 716910thequayschool.comMr Russell Arnold headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 29 April 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.
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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (62), Autistic spectrum disorder (4), Other difficulty or disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 69 | 64 | 71 | 81 | 80 | 70 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 70% | 66% | 69% | 54% | 54% | 43% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 1% | 0% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 75% | 82% | 79% | 78% | 83% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 22% | 17% | 15% | 21% | 17% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 42 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 56%, compared with 46% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 50% | 42% | 60% |
| Education | 43% | 36% | 41% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 7% | 7% | 19% |
| Not in education, work or training | 26% | 32% | 29% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 Aldhelm's Academy | Academy | 370 m | 808 | Report card 2026 | 3 | Compare |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Poole | Academy | 550 m | 370 | Good 2022 | 45 | Compare |
| Manorside Academy | Academy | 740 m | 413 | No overall grade 2025 | 41 | Compare |
| Winchelsea School | Council | 940 m | 248 | Report card 2026 | – | Compare |
| Heatherlands Primary School | Academy | 950 m | 616 | Good 2022 | 29 | Compare |
| Livingstone Road Junior School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 204 | Report card 2026 | 8 | Compare |
| Livingstone Road Infant School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 199 | Report card 2026 | 8 | Compare |
| The Lion Works School | Independent | 0.9 miles | 55 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Quay School a good school?
The Quay School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it not judged at its last inspection in April 2025.
What is The Quay School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Quay School not judged at its last full inspection on 29 April 2025.
How many pupils does The Quay School have?
69 pupils aged 5 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 133 places, so it is 52% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 160 Herbert Avenue, Poole, BH12 4HU
- Telephone
- 01202 716910
- Website
- www.thequayschool.com
- Headteacher
- Mr Russell Arnold
- Type of school
- Academy alternative provision converter (Academy alternative provision converter, academies)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 5-18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Southern Education Trust (11 schools)
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Ward
- Newtown & Heatherlands
- Constituency
- Poole
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2013 (academy converter)
- URN
- 139498 · LAESTAB 8391100 · UKPRN 10040980
- Formerly
- The Quay School
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.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 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.