Hillside Junior School

Hillside Junior School was inspected in November 2024 in its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, having previously been graded good. The school is now judged to require improvement in the quality of education and in leadership and management, while behaviour and attitudes and personal development are good. Pupils are happy, safe and respectful, behave well in lessons and around school, benefit from a wide wider-curricular offer, and take on leadership roles. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, matching national expectations, and many pupils do well, including in national assessments. However, the curriculum is not consistently implemented. Assessment is not used systematically to check pupils' understanding before moving on, misconceptions are not routinely identified or addressed quickly, and some pupils, including those with SEND, those who speak English as an additional language, and those at the early stages of reading, are not sufficiently supported to achieve the curriculum's aims. Expectations for pupils with SEND are not high enough, staff are not adequately trained to adapt teaching and resources, and gaps in early reading knowledge are not addressed quickly enough. Leadership and governance oversight has not been sufficiently strategic or precise about the impact of the curriculum on pupils' learning, especially for vulnerable pupils. Staff feel supported and parents are helped with homework resources in home languages, but the report identifies a need for sharper oversight of curriculum implementation and more consistent use of assessment to adapt teaching.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe and show respect and kindness to each other.
• Pupils know how to raise concerns through trusted adults and class worry boxes.
• The school offers a wide range of additional activities, including fencing, rock band and Spanish.
• Pupils develop leadership skills through roles such as school council members and well-being ambassadors.
• The curriculum is ambitious and matches the breadth expected nationally.
• Curriculum content is precisely sequenced so pupils revisit and embed understanding over time.
• Pupils enjoy reading and read each day, with texts chosen to enhance the wider curriculum.
• An established phonics curriculum provides books matched to the sounds pupils know.
• Personal development is well considered, including online safety, democracy and cultural visits.
• Pupils behave respectfully, bullying is rare and lessons are rarely disrupted.
• Weekly achievement assemblies celebrate pupils who demonstrate school values.
• Pupils attend well and arrive on time.
• Staff feel supported by leaders and their well-being is considered.
• Parents receive homework resources in a range of home languages.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement.
• Leadership and management require improvement.
• The curriculum is not consistently implemented across the school.
• Assessment is not used systematically to check pupils' understanding before moving on.
• Misconceptions are not routinely identified or swiftly addressed.
• Some pupils, including those with SEND and those learning English, do not develop sufficient knowledge and skills to achieve curriculum aims.
• Expectations for pupils with SEND are not sufficiently high.
• Staff are not adequately trained to adapt teaching and resources for pupils with SEND.
• Gaps in pupils' early reading knowledge are not addressed quickly and effectively enough.
• Some early readers are not sufficiently supported to read accurately or fluently.
• Leadership and governance oversight is not sharply focused on curriculum implementation and its impact, especially for vulnerable pupils.
• Assessment information is not used consistently to adapt teaching to pupils' needs.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Hillside Junior School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.9% of pupils at Hillside Junior School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Hillside Junior School had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 16.7% of pupils at Hillside Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Hillside Junior School received £8,388 and spent £8,309 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £53,000 (£255 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Hillingdon · Hillingdon local authority: places and applications

What is Hillside Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hillside Junior School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Hillside Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hillside Junior School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Hillside Junior School have?

Hillside Junior School has 210 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hillside Junior School cover?

Hillside Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Hillside Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Hillside Junior School?

Hillside Junior School is at Northwood Way, Northwood, HA6 1RX.