Fir Tree Primary School and Nursery

About Fir Tree Primary School and Nursery

Fir Tree Primary School and Nursery’s Key Stage 2 results sit notably below the West Berkshire average, a gap that parents will want to weigh carefully. In the 2023/24 academic year, just 45% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a local authority average of 57%. That places the school 45th out of 67 primary schools in the area, firmly in the bottom half. The gap is most pronounced in writing, where only 48% met expectations, and in maths, where 53% did. Reading fared a little better, with 63% reaching the expected level. At the higher standard, the picture is even starker: no pupils achieved the higher benchmark in reading, writing and maths together, and only 13% did so in maths. For families focused on academic outcomes, these figures suggest the school is not currently matching the performance of its West Berkshire peers.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in May 2022, rated it Good overall, a clear improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2018. The inspection report noted Good grades for quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management. However, early years provision was judged as Requires Improvement, which is worth noting for families with younger children. The school has a mixed intake, with 37.6% of pupils eligible for free school meals, well above the national average, and this context may partly explain the attainment figures. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is difficult to say how much value the school adds relative to starting points. The headteacher, Michael Steer, leads a school of 242 pupils, just over its stated capacity of 240, indicating that it is a popular choice locally despite the middling results.

Fir Tree offers a broad range of facilities including music rooms, art studios, an ICT suite, a sports hall and a chapel. Sports on offer include rounders, netball, football and cricket, and there is a healthy selection of clubs such as chess, choir, coding, drama and art club. The school has a strong SEND offer, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder, plus a resourced provision. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 58 applications for 30 places, with 28 offers made to first-preference applicants. This suggests that despite the below-average results, the school is well-regarded by local families, particularly those who value its inclusive SEND support and the range of enrichment activities on offer.

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