School Chooser

Victoria Park Nursery School

Nursery · ages 2-5MixedLocal authority nursery school116 pupilsNurseryNewburyWest Berkshire
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWe don't score this type of school.
OfstedAs expected teachingOfsted report card, April 2026
Pupils from low-income families0%Far fewer than most schools
Pupils per teacher18.6School workforce census
Pupils on roll116Census January 2026

Victoria Park Nursery School is a local authority nursery school in Newbury for boys and girls aged 2 to 5. It has 116 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.

Victoria Park, Parkway, Newbury, RG14 1EH0163541296victoriapark.w-berks.sch.ukMiss Lynda Shepherd 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”
As expected
Achievement
As expected
Behaviour and attendanceOfsted calls this “attendance and behaviour”
As expected
Support for every childOfsted calls this “inclusion”
Strong
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development and wellbeing”
Strong
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and governance”
As expected
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
22 June 2022UngradedSchool 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 West Berkshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll116Census January 2026
Pupils from low-income families0%0% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English44%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support29%34 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan2%2 pupils with a plan
Boys and girls65 / 51
White British pupils58%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (28), emotional and mental health (7), Autistic spectrum disorder (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll11612212512511997
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals0%0%0%0%19%21%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language44%48%44%32%30%45%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support32%21%27%22%19%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%0%0%1%1%

Staff and money

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

Teachers4.3full-time equivalent, 5 people
Pupils per teacher18.6Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants8.6full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£57,756
Teachers who left in the year9%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher1.82024/25

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£13,247England £7,738. Total £941k
Income per pupil£13,671England £7,697. Total £971k
Spent on teachers per pupil£4,853England £3,480
Money in reserve19%A healthy amount put by: £183k, £2,572 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£30kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£13,247spent 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 m89912 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate153 per 1,000 people68% higher than the England average
Typical house price£399,950West Berkshire
Nearest bus stop100 mPark Way Top, 23 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
Northcroft Vocational SchoolIndependent440 m15Not inspectedCompare
Speenhamland SchoolAcademy480 m290Good 202326Compare
St Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolRoman Catholic520 m246Good 202333Compare
The Winchcombe SchoolCouncil600 m436Report card 20267Compare
St Nicolas C.E. Junior SchoolChurch of England930 m244No overall grade 202439Compare
Trinity SchoolAcademy940 m1,349Good 202440Compare
Robert Sandilands Primary School and NurseryCouncil0.7 miles221Not inspected84Compare
Shaw-cum-Donnington C.E. Primary SchoolChurch of England0.7 miles91No overall grade 202539Compare

Questions parents ask

Is Victoria Park Nursery School a good school?

Victoria Park Nursery School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from April 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.

What is Victoria Park Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

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

How many pupils does Victoria Park Nursery School have?

116 pupils aged 2 to 5 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
Victoria Park, Parkway, Newbury, RG14 1EH
Telephone
0163541296
Website
www.victoriapark.w-berks.sch.uk
Headteacher
Miss Lynda Shepherd
Type of school
Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Nursery school, ages 2-5, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
West Berkshire
Ward
Newbury Central
Constituency
Newbury
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
109757 · LAESTAB 8691014 · UKPRN 10035783

Where these figures come from