Gorse Ride Infants' School

Gorse Ride Infants’ School is a nurturing and high-performing school where pupils are happy, confident and well supported. This graded inspection found consistently strong provision across the curriculum, behaviour, personal development, leadership and early years, with no overall effectiveness grade because of the current inspection framework. The school is federated with Gorse Ride Junior School and includes nursery provision. The school’s ambitious curriculum and rigorous approach to reading are particular strengths. Phonics teaching and catch-up support are exemplary, helping pupils become fluent and confident readers. Children in the early years benefit from a stimulating environment and a strong focus on language development. Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported well, and behaviour and personal development are strong. Leaders are outward-looking, staff feel supported and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. The main area for improvement is transcription. Sometimes pupils do not receive the guidance they need to correct weaknesses in letter and number formation, meaning some continue to make the same mistakes and their writing development slows. This was the only improvement point identified in the report.

Strengths

• Exemplary phonics teaching and precise catch-up support
• Pupils achieve excellent outcomes in phonics screening checks
• Ambitious and well-planned curriculum across subjects
• Strong early years provision with a focus on language development
• Swift identification and effective support for pupils with SEND
• High expectations and consistently positive pupil behaviour
• Pupils develop strong emotional regulation and calming strategies
• Well-planned personal development covering safety, mental health and respect
• Rich enrichment opportunities and clubs with barriers removed
• Supportive leadership with strong staff and parental engagement
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not get effective guidance to correct weaknesses in transcription, particularly letter and number formation
• Repeated writing errors are not always addressed, which slows some pupils’ writing development

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 Gorse Ride Infants' School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 3.3% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Gorse Ride Infants' 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 Gorse Ride Infants' School had 21.5 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, 7.3% of pupils at Gorse Ride Infants' School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.6% 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 Gorse Ride Infants' School received £8,874 and spent £8,708 for each of its 100 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £59,000 (£597 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 Gorse Ride Infants' School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Gorse Ride Infants' School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Gorse Ride Infants' School last inspected by Ofsted?

Gorse Ride Infants' School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Gorse Ride Infants' School have?

Gorse Ride Infants' School has 109 pupils on roll.

What age range does Gorse Ride Infants' School cover?

Gorse Ride Infants' School for pupils aged 5 to 7.

Where is Gorse Ride Infants' School?

Gorse Ride Infants' School is at Gorse Ride South, Finchampstead, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 4EH.