Halfway Junior School

Halfway Junior School is a welcoming, inclusive school that inspectors found to be performing well overall. Attendance and behaviour are particular strengths: attendance is above national averages, including for pupils with SEND, persistent absence has fallen, and pupils behave positively, show self-discipline and get on well together. The school has a strong inclusive culture, identifies SEND needs swiftly, uses pupil premium funding effectively, and provides strong personal development through its Life Lessons curriculum, enrichment and leadership opportunities. Leadership and governance are also strong, with robust monitoring, effective staff development and supportive governors. Safeguarding standards are met. Achievement and the quality of curriculum and teaching are judged at the expected standard. Published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 improved in 2024/25 in reading, writing and mathematics, and the curriculum is broad, ambitious and generally well sequenced. However, disadvantaged pupils' outcomes remain below national averages, and the disadvantage gap is wide. Teaching is not yet consistently effective across all classes: sometimes pupils do not attend closely to explanations or peers' responses, learning can move on too slowly, and some pupils have gaps in knowledge or lose focus without prompt correction. The school is aware of these inconsistencies and has credible plans to address them. The main next step is to continue building a culture of attentive industriousness so that all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, secure the prioritised knowledge and achieve consistently well. The school benefits from strong relationships with parents and external agencies, and inspectors found pupils feel safe, valued and well prepared for their future lives.

Strengths

• Attendance is above national averages, including for pupils with SEND.
• Persistent absence has reduced over recent years.
• Pupils' behaviour is consistently positive and shows high self-discipline.
• Suspensions are rare and used only as a last resort.
• Bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly.
• The school has a tangibly inclusive culture where everyone belongs.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and accurately, with tightly focused individual plans.
• Staff receive well-planned training to meet pupils' needs, including SEND.
• Pupil premium funding is targeted effectively to improve achievement, attendance and engagement.
• Leaders have robust systems to monitor and evaluate the impact of their actions.
• Governors understand their statutory duties and provide astute challenge and support.
• Staff feel well supported and leaders consider workload and wellbeing.
• The personal development programme is comprehensive, with strong PSHE and Life Lessons.
• Pupils benefit from a broad range of leadership opportunities and enrichment activities.
• Pupils demonstrate a mature understanding of diversity, inclusion and respectful relationships.
• Published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 improved in reading, writing and mathematics in 2025.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and thoughtfully sequenced.
• Teachers use questioning well and make regular checks on pupils' knowledge.
• A love of reading is promoted, with teachers reading aloud to pupils frequently.
• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe.

Areas for Improvement

• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes remain below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The disadvantage gap is wide, including in the combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.
• Teaching is not yet consistently effective across all classes.
• On occasion, teachers do not ensure all pupils pay attention to important explanations or peers' responses.
• Occasionally, teaching moves pupils' learning on too slowly.
• In some subjects, inconsistency in pupils' recall suggests not all are securing prioritised knowledge.
• Some pupils have isolated gaps in learning that hinder their achievement.
• In some lessons, pupils lose focus and this is not consistently addressed in a timely way.
• Leaders should continue work to build a culture of attentive industriousness so all pupils achieve consistently well.

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 Halfway Junior School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.1% 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, 1.5% of pupils at Halfway 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 Halfway Junior School had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 18.5% of pupils at Halfway Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.5% 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 Halfway Junior School received £7,623 and spent £7,671 for each of its 200 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £228,000 (-£1,142 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).

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What is Halfway Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Halfway Junior School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Halfway Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Halfway Junior School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Halfway Junior School have?

Halfway Junior School has 200 pupils on roll.

What age range does Halfway Junior School cover?

Halfway Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Halfway Junior School?

Halfway Junior School is at Halfway Centre, Halfway, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S20 4TA.