Carrington Junior School

Carrington Junior School is a welcoming, caring junior school where pupils are happy and feel safe. Inspectors found the school good across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Since the previous inspection, leaders have strengthened the curriculum and raised expectations, and pupils’ academic achievement and well-being are given equal priority. Behaviour is strong, bullying is rare, and pupils understand and respect the school’s values. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has clear strengths in supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including through its specially resourced provision for pupils with autism, known as ‘Blossom’. Pupils with SEND are identified quickly, staff are well trained, and disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well. Reading is taught expertise and pupils who need extra help receive tailored support. Pupils also benefit from a wide range of cultural, sporting and community experiences. There are still areas to improve. In a small number of subjects, the important knowledge that pupils should secure over time is not identified precisely enough, so a few pupils do not always have the building blocks they need. The school also does not consistently inspire pupils to read widely and for pleasure, and a few pupils do not enjoy reading. Attendance is improving, including for pupils who are persistently absent, but the school continues to work with families and agencies to raise attendance further. The school is federated with the infant school of the same name.

Strengths

• Welcoming and caring ethos with pupils who are happy and feel safe
• High standards of behaviour that pupils understand and respect
• Bullying and unkind behaviour are rare and dealt with quickly
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with well-structured subject planning in most areas
• The ‘Carrington Way’ guidance supports curriculum implementation and staff workload
• Teachers use carefully chosen resources and check what pupils remember in most lessons
• Pupils’ barriers to learning are identified quickly and supportive plans are put in place
• Staff are trained to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND
• Pupils with SEND, including those in the ‘Blossom’ provision, learn alongside their peers wherever possible
• Disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well
• Reading is taught expertly, with meticulous checks and tailored support for pupils who need it
• Pupils develop a strong moral compass and understand resilience, kindness and respect
• Pupils are knowledgeable about online safety and physical health
• Pupils enjoy school and the vast majority attend regularly
• Attendance for persistently absent pupils is improving
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, subject-specific end points and the important knowledge pupils must retain are not identified precisely enough
• A few pupils lack secure building blocks of knowledge before moving on
• The school does not consistently inspire pupils to read widely and for pleasure
• A few pupils do not enjoy reading and do not read widely

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 Carrington Junior School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.5% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Carrington 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 Carrington Junior School had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.3% 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, 23.8% of pupils at Carrington Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 8 pupils.

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 Carrington Junior School received £7,632 and spent £7,877 for each of its 231 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £80,000 (£345 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 High Wycombe · Buckinghamshire local authority: places and applications

What is Carrington Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Carrington Junior School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Carrington Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Carrington Junior School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Carrington Junior School have?

Carrington Junior School has 231 pupils on roll.

What age range does Carrington Junior School cover?

Carrington Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Carrington Junior School?

Carrington Junior School is at 4 Chapel Road, Flackwell Heath, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10 9AA.