St Alphege Church of England Junior School

St Alphege Church of England Junior School is an ambitious, nurturing school where pupils achieve very well and relationships are warm, respectful and inclusive. Inspectors found strong provision across the school, with pupils benefiting from a well-designed curriculum, a celebrated reading culture, effective support for pupils with SEND, impressive behaviour and an exceptional range of personal development and enrichment opportunities. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has improved rapidly since its previous inspection, when it required improvement. Leaders have identified weaknesses swiftly, prioritised the right areas and created a shared vision for excellence among staff and pupils. Governors provide effective challenge and support, and staff are proud to work at the school and feel their workload is considered. The main area for improvement is assessment practice. In some subjects, information from checks on pupils' learning is not always used precisely enough to identify what pupils already know and to adapt subsequent teaching. As a result, pupils occasionally do not achieve as highly as they might. The school is part of a hard federation with St Alphege Church of England Infant and Nursery School, and the executive headteacher joined in April 2023.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve very well across an ambitious and carefully designed curriculum.
• Reading is celebrated widely, and pupils who need extra support become fluent readers quickly.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported effectively, and they achieve well.
• Pupils' behaviour and attitudes to learning are impressive, and bullying is rare.
• Personal development is exceptional, with a rich range of enrichment and leadership opportunities.
• Pupils are confident, responsible and well prepared for their next stages and life beyond school.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and appreciate leaders' consideration of their workload.
• Governors work closely with leaders and provide effective challenge and support.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, assessment information is not used precisely enough to identify pupils' existing knowledge and inform subsequent teaching.
• On occasion, pupils do not achieve as highly as they might because next steps are not sharply identified from checks on learning.

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 St Alphege Church of England Junior School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.5% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Alphege Church of England 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 St Alphege Church of England Junior School had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.3% 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, 18.7% of pupils at St Alphege Church of England Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% 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 St Alphege Church of England Junior School received £6,974 and spent £6,633 for each of its 395 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £234,000 (£593 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). This school files a single return with the other schools in its federation, so the figures are for the whole federation.

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What is St Alphege Church of England Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Alphege Church of England Junior School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was St Alphege Church of England Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Alphege Church of England Junior School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does St Alphege Church of England Junior School have?

St Alphege Church of England Junior School has 252 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Alphege Church of England Junior School cover?

St Alphege Church of England Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are St Alphege Church of England Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 86% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Alphege Church of England Junior School?

St Alphege Church of England Junior School is at Widney Manor Road, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 3JG.