Friars Primary School and Nursery

About Friars Primary School and Nursery

Parents considering Friars Primary School and Nursery will find strong signals of satisfaction from the most recent Parent View survey, which ran from September 2024 to September 2025. A very high 93% of the 28 respondents said they would recommend the school to other parents. The survey also shows that 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and 96% felt their child is safe. On the question of whether the school has high expectations, 93% agreed or strongly agreed. The school is clearly popular locally: for the 2025/26 academic year, it received 73 applications for just 49 places, an oversubscription ratio of 1.49. All 45 first-preference applicants were offered a place, meaning that while the school is oversubscribed overall, securing a spot as a first choice is realistic.

Academically, Friars is a school where outcomes are mixed when compared with the local authority average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 51% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. This is below the Southend-on-Sea average of 61% and places the school 19th out of 25 primaries in the local authority, putting it in the bottom half of the league table. Looking at individual subjects, 78% met the expected standard in writing, but reading (64%) and maths (68%) were closer to the national picture. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard in all three subjects was just 5%. The school has a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 41.8%, which may provide important context for these results. In its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in December 2024, the school was rated Good overall, with Good marks for leadership and management and early years provision.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a library, ICT suite, art studios, sports hall and an outdoor playground. There is also a chapel on site. Sports provision is strong, with clubs and fixtures in football, netball, cricket, tennis, athletics, cross country and gymnastics. Beyond sport, pupils can join clubs for coding, science, art, film and gardening. The school has a nursery provision for children from age three. For families with children who have special educational needs, Friars lists support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, social and emotional mental health needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. The school is a good fit for families who value a strong sense of community and pastoral care, and who are comfortable with a school that is improving its academic standing from a lower baseline within the local authority.

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