Mansel Park Primary and Nursery School best in Southampton

A primary school in Millbrook has said they’re “exceptionally proud” after being crowned the best in the city.

Mansel Park Primary and Nursery School was rated Southampton’s top performing primary school for 2024 after the Department for Education released data on the number of students meeting the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths.

Speaking to the Echo, co-headteacher Paul Lodge shared some of the secrets behind the school’s success.

He said: “We have a fantastic group of teaching staff, and the pupils want to be really successful, which is wonderful.

“At the school there are three main rules the children must follow – they have to be ready, respectful, and safe.

“They’re old school family values but we find the children really take them on board and want to do the best they can. It creates a great environment to be part of.”

Mansel Park Primary and Nursery School became part of The Learning Federation, joining The Holy Family Partnership of Schools in September 2017 when the school had been judged ‘Requires Improvement’ by Ofsted.

Since then, the school has moved from strength to strength with a ‘Good’ Ofsted report in 2019 – with both Early Years and Leadership and Management judged as outstanding.

“We see it as a legacy, as we’ve achieved these outstanding results with pupils who were in Year R seven years ago,” said Paul.

“We hope that it’s a bit of an eye-opener and are really keen for people to know where we are.”

The school saw 88 per cent of children achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared to the local authority average of 57 per cent, while 10 per cent of children achieved the higher standard across those subjects.

The year group to achieve those results were in Year R when The Learning Federation, part of the Holy Family Partnership of Schools began to lead the school.

Executive headteacher of Mansel Park Primary and Nursery School, Gerida Montague added: “I am exceptionally proud of all of the children in our care and the academic results epitomise the love, drive and dedication shown by our wonderful staff. The children are at the heart of all that we do.”