St James' CofE Junior School

St James' CofE Junior School is a small Church of England junior school in Whitehaven. It was inspected in June 2026 during a period of significant leadership change, with a temporary executive headteacher in post since January 2026. Safeguarding standards are met. Inspectors found personal development and wellbeing to be a strong feature, while achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance were all at the expected standard. Pupils flourish and are proud of the school's Christian values. They feel safe, behave respectfully, and attendance is consistently above national averages. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, and pupils achieve above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2. There is a rich offer of clubs, trips, leadership roles and community experiences, and leaders ensure pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils can access these. The main areas for improvement are that support plans for pupils who face barriers are not always precise enough, and some lesson activities do not consistently help pupils apply their knowledge in depth or build detailed knowledge across the full curriculum. Leaders and governors are taking effective action to maintain standards and drive improvement.

Strengths

• Strong personal development and wellbeing provision that develops pupils' resilience and character.
• Pupils feel safe and safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Positive behaviour and respectful relationships; bullying and discrimination are rare.
• Attendance and persistent absence rates are consistently better than national averages.
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum enriched by trips and visitors.
• National test outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are above national averages.
• Inclusive practice ensures pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils access the curriculum and wider opportunities.
• Effective leadership and governance during a period of significant leadership change.
• Staff benefit from well-considered professional development and value it.
• Pupils develop mature understanding of British values, safety, health and relationships.
• Wide range of extracurricular, leadership and community opportunities that build confidence and responsibility.

Areas for Improvement

• Support plans for pupils who face barriers to learning are not always clear and precise, leading to some inconsistency in meeting individual needs and targets.
• Lesson activities do not consistently enable pupils to apply their knowledge in depth.
• Pupils do not develop consistently detailed knowledge across the full curriculum.
• Curriculum delivery does not always build closely on pupils' specific next steps in learning.

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 St James' CofE Junior School attended 97.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.4% 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, 0.6% of pupils at St James' CofE 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 St James' CofE Junior School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.4% 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, 9.0% of pupils at St James' CofE Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.7% 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 St James' CofE Junior School received £7,696 and spent £7,560 for each of its 156 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £98,000 (£630 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 Whitehaven · Cumberland local authority: places and applications

What is St James' CofE Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St James' CofE Junior School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was St James' CofE Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

St James' CofE Junior School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does St James' CofE Junior School have?

St James' CofE Junior School has 156 pupils on roll.

What age range does St James' CofE Junior School cover?

St James' CofE Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are St James' CofE Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St James' CofE Junior School?

St James' CofE Junior School is at Wellington Row, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 7HG.