Fairhaven Primary School

About Fairhaven Primary School

Fairhaven Primary School in Dudley is currently rated Requires Improvement overall by Ofsted, following its most recent graded inspection in October 2021. That headline, however, doesn't tell the full story. The inspection report reveals a mixed picture: leadership and management, along with the quality of education, were both judged to require improvement, but behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision were all rated Good. Compared with its previous inspection in 2018, where the school also received a Requires Improvement overall rating, the school has held steady in some areas while improving in others — early years provision, for instance, was previously graded Requires Improvement and has now moved up to Good. With 273 pupils on roll against a capacity of 315, the school is not yet full, which may reflect the challenges it faces in turning around its overall rating. The headteacher, Louise de Graaff, is leading the school through this period of required improvement.

On academic outcomes, the most telling metric is the school's Key Stage 2 performance. Fairhaven's average scaled score in reading, writing and maths sits below the Dudley local authority average of 59, though the exact figure is not provided in the data. The school's Progress 8 score is also not available here, so parents will want to check the most recent published performance tables. What is clear is that Fairhaven is not among the top-performing primary schools in the borough — the three highest-ranked peers, Manor Way Primary Academy, Blowers Green Primary School, and Tenterfields Primary Academy, all have ranking scores above 80. Ofsted's judgement that the quality of education requires improvement aligns with this picture, suggesting that while the school has strengths in personal development and behaviour, academic outcomes are an area of focus. The school does not have a sixth form, as it is a primary-only setting, so all pupils move on to secondary schools at age 11.

Fairhaven offers a broad range of facilities including a sensory room, forest school, music rooms, a chapel, and a sports hall, alongside clubs such as gardening, coding, and drama. Its SEND provisions are notably comprehensive, covering moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication, hearing and visual impairments, and autistic spectrum disorder — making it a potentially strong choice for families whose children have additional needs. The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 90 applications for 22 places and 21 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 4.09. This suggests strong local demand despite the Requires Improvement rating. With nursery provision on site and a mixed, non-religious character, Fairhaven suits families in Dudley who value a supportive environment for SEND pupils and a wide extracurricular offer, but who are comfortable with a school that is still working to improve its academic outcomes.

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