Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School

Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School is a small school of about 80 pupils. This was a full section 5 inspection, and safeguarding standards are met. The school is strongest in personal development and wellbeing. Pupils are cared for well, treat each other kindly, take on responsibilities, attend regularly and behave well. Parents are positive, and leaders have built a supportive, inclusive culture, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, whose numbers are well above average. Achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance are all at the expected standard. Pupils generally learn well, gaps are usually closed through effective support, and staff manage recent changes well. However, the early years requires attention. Some children are not secure enough in early writing, vocabulary and phonics, adult-child interactions do not consistently secure learning, and assessment is not used sharply enough to adapt the curriculum. The report also says phonics implementation needs to be more consistent and that recent curriculum changes are yet to show their full impact. Overall, this is a caring and effective school with clear strengths in pupil wellbeing, inclusion and community. The main improvement priority is early years practice, particularly assessment, language development and early reading and writing, alongside greater consistency in phonics teaching.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive safeguarding culture.
• Personal development and wellbeing are a strong standard and placed at the centre of the school's work.
• Pupils show high levels of care, kindness and respect for one another, including welcoming new pupils.
• A very wide range of clubs and activities is offered, with strong take-up and careful tracking.
• Pupils take on responsibilities such as school council roles, monitors and lunchtime club leaders.
• Pupils attend very well, and persistent absence is low.
• Behaviour is positive; pupils arrive calmly, settle quickly, and bullying is rare.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, and teachers generally have secure subject knowledge.
• Inclusion is effective; pupils with SEND are accurately identified and well supported.
• Leaders support staff well, including new staff, and governors provide appropriate challenge and support.
• Parents are very positive, and the school maintains strong community and family links.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND generally achieve well, with gaps typically closed effectively.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years requires attention because some children's achievement is not as strong as it should be.
• Children are not secure enough in writing letters, wider vocabulary and phonics for early reading.
• Adult-child interactions in early years are not fully effective in securing children's learning.
• Early years assessment does not help staff adjust the curriculum effectively enough.
• Phonics implementation is not consistent enough, leaving some pupils needing catch-up support.
• Recent changes to phonics, mathematics and writing curriculums have not yet fully realised their impact.
• Writing attainment has been below the national average in recent years.

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 Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.8% 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 Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant 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 Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School had 13.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.0% 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, 20.2% of pupils at Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School received £8,557 and spent £9,125 for each of its 84 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £61,000 (£723 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 Hitchin · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School have?

Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School has 84 pupils on roll.

What age range does Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School cover?

Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School?

Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School is at Oxford Road, Breachwood Green, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG4 8NP.