Heatherside Junior School

Heatherside Junior School is a highly inclusive, welcoming junior school where pupils are happy, feel safe and achieve well. Relationships between pupils and staff are strong, pastoral support is highly effective, and parents are overwhelmingly supportive. The school provides a broad and ambitious curriculum, prioritises reading, and ensures pupils with SEND access the same rich education as their peers. Behaviour and attitudes are exemplary, personal development is a standout feature, and leadership and governance are strong. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic's impact into account. The school's wider personal development offer is remarkable, with extensive clubs, leadership opportunities and a well-developed PSHE curriculum that prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Reading is a top priority, pupils become fluent and confident readers, and the school has created a strong culture of reading for pleasure. Staff are well trained and supported, and governors monitor provision rigorously while offering supportive challenge. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is curriculum refinement. In a minority of subjects, the school has not yet precisely defined the deeper knowledge it wants pupils to learn, which makes it harder for some pupils to build on prior knowledge and develop deeper understanding. The school should continue refining curriculum thinking so that important knowledge is clear and consistently supports deeper learning across all subjects.

Strengths

• Inclusive and welcoming school where pupils feel safe and respected
• Strong, trusting relationships between pupils and staff
• Highly effective pastoral support, including the Amethyst Room
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with clear sequencing in most subjects
• Reading is a top priority, with effective support for early readers
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and access the full curriculum successfully
• Exemplary pupil behaviour and attitudes
• Remarkable personal development provision and extensive enrichment opportunities
• Strong leadership and governance with rigorous but supportive challenge
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• In a minority of subjects, deeper knowledge is not yet precisely defined, limiting some pupils' ability to build deeper understanding

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 Heatherside Junior School attended 97.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 1.0% 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 Heatherside 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 Heatherside Junior School had 23.6 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, 10.3% of pupils at Heatherside Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% 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 Heatherside Junior School received £5,914 and spent £5,954 for each of its 380 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £181,000 (£476 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 Fleet · Hampshire local authority: places and applications

What is Heatherside Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Heatherside Junior School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Heatherside Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Heatherside Junior School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Heatherside Junior School have?

Heatherside Junior School has 380 pupils on roll.

What age range does Heatherside Junior School cover?

Heatherside Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Heatherside Junior School?

Heatherside Junior School is at Reading Road South, Fleet, Hampshire, GU52 7TH.