Featherstone Purston Infant School

Featherstone Purston Infant School has been rated as good overall in its recent inspection, reflecting a strong sense of community and the pride that pupils, parents, and staff feel in their school. Leaders have established a caring and nurturing environment where pupils feel safe and engaged in their learning. The quality of education is robust, with effective curriculum approaches in reading and mathematics, allowing pupils to build confidence and knowledge. However, while the school excels in many areas, there are some concerns regarding the effectiveness of systems in place for checking the curriculum and inconsistent clarity around knowledge sequencing in certain subjects.

Strengths

• Strong sense of community among pupils, parents, and staff.
• High expectations maintained by staff for pupil behaviour and learning.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Well-established mathematics curriculum tailored to pupils' needs.
• Early years provision focuses on communication and language development.
• Governance is strong with knowledgeable and supportive governors.

Areas for Improvement

• Inadequate systems for checking the quality of the curriculum.
• Lack of clarity in knowledge sequencing in subjects like computing and history.

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 Featherstone Purston Infant School attended 92.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.5% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Featherstone Purston Infant 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 Featherstone Purston Infant School had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.5% 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, 6.9% of pupils at Featherstone Purston Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Featherstone Purston Infant School received £7,405 and spent £7,800 for each of its 182 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £13,000 (-£69 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 Pontefract · Wakefield local authority: places and applications

What is Featherstone Purston Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Featherstone Purston Infant School is Good, from an inspection in March 2023.

When was Featherstone Purston Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Featherstone Purston Infant School was last inspected in March 2023.

How many pupils does Featherstone Purston Infant School have?

Featherstone Purston Infant School has 203 pupils on roll.

What age range does Featherstone Purston Infant School cover?

Featherstone Purston Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Featherstone Purston Infant School?

Featherstone Purston Infant School is at Nunns Lane, Featherstone, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF7 5HF.