Primary school in Verwood, Dorset
Hillside Community First School
Hillside Road, Verwood, Dorset, BH31 7HE
Ofsted
Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 11 May 2023.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 221
- Places
- 240
- How full
- 92% full — 221 of 240 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 106 / 115
- Overall absence
- 5%
- Persistently absent
- 10%
primary schools average 5.2%
primary schools average 12.8% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 17%
- English as an additional language
- 1%
- With an EHC plan
- 2%
- On SEN support
- 15%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Dorset 010E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 31%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 11%
- Households owning their home
- 85%
- Households in social housing
- 7%
- Households with no car
- 5%
- Adults economically inactive
- 42%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- Ages 4–9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- INITIO LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: David Graves
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward
- Verwood
- Constituency
- North Dorset
- URN
- 146690
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest primary schools
| School | Ofsted | Expected standard | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Church of England First SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | — | 0.4 mi |
| Verwood Church of England First SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | — | 0.9 mi |
| Three Legged Cross First and Nursery SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | — | 2 mi |
| St James' Church of England First School and Nursery, AlderholtAcademy converter | Good 2023 | — | 2.8 mi |
| Cranborne Church of England First SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | — | 3.3 mi |
| St Ives Primary & Nursery SchoolAcademy converter | Outstanding 2023 | 90% | 3.8 mi |
| St Mary's CofE First School & NurseryAcademy converter | No grade | — | 3.8 mi |
| Wimborne St Giles Church of England First School and NurseryAcademy converter | Good 2023 | — | 4 mi |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.