Dickens Heath Community Primary School

Solihull · B90 1NA

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 453 pupils, 14.3% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN Resourced provision · 11.7% on SEN support Behaviour 4.4% absence rate Staff 1.8% turnover Financials £7,488 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Dickens Heath Community Primary School

General Information

Address: Three Acres Lane, Dickens Heath, Solihull, B90 1NA – View on map
Phone: 01217338359
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs J Nicholls
Age range: 3-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 48 families put it first for 51 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 4 of the 51 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

453 pupils out of 470 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 62
% eligible for free school meals: 14.3%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (similar to the Solihull average)
English as an additional language: 16% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 1.8% a year (Solihull 14.8%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 83% moved to another school, 17% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Solihull: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 5 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Solihull, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 4.4%
Persistently absent pupils: 9.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

Resourced provision for Autism 14 places · 13 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 11.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.5%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 18 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 12 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 15 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card May 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
Achievement Strong standard
Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Strong standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2022). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 74% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 21% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 5 percentage points above the Solihull average (69%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (3-year average 71% against an expected 65%)
3-year average (expected standard): 71%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 85% · Writing 79% · Maths 87% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 77%
Average test scores: reading 109, maths 108
Based on: 62 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolSolihull averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 5 percentage points above the Solihull average (69%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 14th of 45 junior and primary schools in the area

=12Balsall Common Primary School76%
=12St Anne's Catholic Primary School76%
=14Dickens Heath Community Primary School74%
=14Fordbridge Community Primary School74%
=16George Fentham Endowed School73%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

=1Lady Katherine Leveson Church of England Primary School86%
=1St Alphege Church of England Junior School86%
#3St Augustine's Catholic Primary School84%
#4Monkspath Junior and Infant School83%
#5Smith's Wood Primary Academy82%
=6Tudor Grange Primary Academy Yew Tree80%
=6Widney Junior School80%
#8Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Primary School79%
#9Dorridge Primary School78%
=10Bentley Heath Church of England Primary School77%
=10St Patricks Church of England Primary Academy77%
=12Balsall Common Primary School76%
=12St Anne's Catholic Primary School76%
=14Dickens Heath Community Primary School74%
=14Fordbridge Community Primary School74%
=16George Fentham Endowed School73%
=16Knowle Church of England Primary Academy73%
=16St Andrew's Catholic Primary School73%
=16St Anthony's Catholic Primary School73%
=16St Mary and St Margaret's Church of England Aided Primary School73%
=21Berkswell Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School70%
=21St George and St Teresa Catholic Primary School70%
=23Olton Primary School68%
=23Sharmans Cross Junior School68%
=23Tudor Grange Primary Academy Langley68%
=26Cheswick Green Primary School67%
=26Greswold Primary School67%
=26Tidbury Green School67%
#29Windy Arbor Primary School66%
#30Shirley Heath Junior School64%
=31Our Lady of Compassion Catholic Primary School63%
=31Tudor Grange Primary Academy Hockley Heath63%
#33Castle Bromwich Junior School62%
#34Bishop Wilson Church of England Primary School61%
=35Coppice Academy60%
=35St Margaret's Church of England Primary School60%
#37Kineton Green Primary School59%
=38Marston Green Junior School58%
=38Ulverley School58%
=40Meriden Church of England Primary School57%
=40St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School57%
#42Mill Lodge Primary School56%
#43Kingshurst Primary School55%
#44Tudor Grange Primary Academy, St James50%
#45Yorkswood Primary School46%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,488 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

10th of 42 primary schools in Solihull for spending per pupil

#8Bishop Wilson Church of England Primary School£7,528
#9Smith's Wood Primary Academy£7,523
#10Dickens Heath Community Primary School£7,488
#11Kingshurst Primary School£7,306
#12St George and St Teresa Catholic Primary School£7,294

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Yorkswood Primary School£9,224
#2Mill Lodge Primary School£8,362
#3Windy Arbor Primary School£7,975
#4St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School£7,829
#5Cheswick Green Primary School£7,766
#6Kineton Green Primary School£7,603
#7Fordbridge Community Primary School£7,592
#8Bishop Wilson Church of England Primary School£7,528
#9Smith's Wood Primary Academy£7,523
#10Dickens Heath Community Primary School£7,488
#11Kingshurst Primary School£7,306
#12St George and St Teresa Catholic Primary School£7,294
#13Lady Katherine Leveson Church of England Primary School£7,275
#14Meriden Church of England Primary School£7,159
#15Monkspath Junior and Infant School£6,979
#16St Mary and St Margaret's Church of England Aided Primary School£6,924
#17Tudor Grange Primary Academy Yew Tree£6,847
#18Greswold Primary School£6,608
#19St Anthony's Catholic Primary School£6,594
#20Berkswell Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£6,457
#21Dorridge Primary School£6,455
#22Tidbury Green School£6,448
#23Tudor Grange Primary Academy, St James£6,445
#24George Fentham Endowed School£6,384
#25Balsall Common Primary School£6,292
#26Our Lady of Compassion Catholic Primary School£6,118
#27St Patricks Church of England Primary Academy£6,060
#28St Anne's Catholic Primary School£5,960
#29Olton Primary School£5,941
#30Ulverley School£5,873
#31St Andrew's Catholic Primary School£5,819
#32St Augustine's Catholic Primary School£5,803
#33Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Primary School£5,781
#34Tudor Grange Primary Academy Hockley Heath£5,700
#35Knowle Church of England Primary Academy£5,692
#36Tudor Grange Primary Academy Langley£5,672
#37St Margaret's Church of England Primary School£5,482
#38Bentley Heath Church of England Primary School£5,403
#39Peterbrook Primary School£4,418
#40Valley Primary£4,299
#41Coleshill Heath School£3,126
#42Oak Cottage Primary School£2,533

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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