Warden Hill Junior School

Warden Hill Junior School is an inclusive community junior school where pupils are respectful, feel safe and attend well. Pupils benefit from an ambitious, well-thought-out curriculum and achieve well in most subjects, with particular strengths in art and design and early reading. Behaviour expectations are high and pupils respond well, creating a calm and purposeful learning environment. Pupils also have a strong voice through leadership roles and contribute to meaningful changes in school life. Leaders have a clear view of improvement priorities, governance is effective, and staff feel supported with workload and wellbeing. Safeguarding is effective. The school identifies pupils with SEND accurately and many adaptations work well, while the wider development programme, including clubs, trips and online safety, is strong. There are two main areas for improvement. Teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding in lessons, so some pupils miss support or are not moved on quickly enough, and on occasion tasks are not precisely matched to the needs of pupils with SEND. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

Strengths

• Inclusive school culture underpinned by clear values
• Pupils are respectful, tolerant and value diversity
• Pupils feel safe and attend well
• Ambitious and well-thought-out curriculum
• Strong art and design curriculum
• Effective early reading and phonics support
• High behaviour expectations with a calm, purposeful atmosphere
• Strong pupil voice and leadership opportunities
• Accurate SEND identification and well-considered adaptations for most pupils
• Careful attendance monitoring and improved attendance
• Strong wider development programme including clubs, trips and online safety
• Effective governance and supportive leadership
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding in lessons
• Some teachers do not respond promptly when pupils need support or can move on
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could
• Learning tasks sometimes do not precisely meet the needs of pupils with SEND
• Some pupils with SEND are not supported to learn effectively

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 Warden Hill Junior School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.9% 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 Warden Hill 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 Warden Hill Junior School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.0% 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, 18.4% of pupils at Warden Hill Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 Warden Hill Junior School received £6,859 and spent £7,073 for each of its 418 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £124,000 (£297 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 Luton · Luton local authority: places and applications

What is Warden Hill Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Warden Hill Junior School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Warden Hill Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Warden Hill Junior School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Warden Hill Junior School have?

Warden Hill Junior School has 418 pupils on roll.

What age range does Warden Hill Junior School cover?

Warden Hill Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Warden Hill Junior School?

Warden Hill Junior School is at Birdsfoot Lane, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 2DN.