Shaftesbury Junior School

Shaftesbury Junior School is a caring, inclusive school where pupils feel safe and behave especially well. Attendance is above national averages, persistent absence has fallen, bullying is uncommon and safeguarding standards are met. Leaders have created a positive culture, staff feel well supported and parents are overwhelmingly positive. Pupils' personal development and wellbeing are given appropriate priority, including through learning about local safety issues and British values. The curriculum is clearly sequenced and teachers generally explain learning well. Staff adapt learning effectively for pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and pupils new to English, and provision for pupils new to English is particularly robust. Disadvantaged pupils achieve well, and pupils make positive progress from their individual starting points. Published outcomes are affected by high pupil mobility, with many pupils joining mid-year, sometimes with little or no previous formal education. Overall, the school is performing securely, with attendance and behaviour standing out as particular strengths. However, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics remains below national averages over three years, particularly at the end of key stage 2, and pupils do not consistently demonstrate deeper understanding or apply learning independently across all subjects and year groups. Leaders' monitoring is not sharply focused enough on the impact of curriculum implementation and teaching on achievement, and governors need to strengthen quality assurance and challenge.

Strengths

• Attendance is above national figures, including for different pupil groups.
• Persistent absence has fallen and is below the national average.
• Pupils behave especially well, are courteous and disruption to learning is rare.
• Bullying is uncommon and pupils are confident staff deal with concerns effectively.
• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Pupils make positive progress from their individual starting points.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve well, including in mathematics.
• Pupils with SEND make appropriate progress and access the curriculum successfully.
• The curriculum is clearly sequenced and builds on prior knowledge.
• Teachers explain new learning clearly and adapt effectively for SEND, disadvantaged and EAL pupils.
• Provision for pupils who speak English as an additional language is particularly robust.
• Leaders use additional funding thoughtfully to overcome barriers to learning.
• Staff feel supported and value leaders' consideration of workload and wellbeing.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school's caring and supportive environment.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is effective, including local safety and British values.

Areas for Improvement

• Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics remains below national averages over three years.
• Writing outcomes are particularly low compared with national averages.
• Pupils do not consistently demonstrate deeper understanding or apply learning independently across all subjects and year groups.
• Monitoring and evaluation are not sharply focused on the impact of curriculum implementation and teaching on achievement.
• Governors' quality assurance and challenge need strengthening across statutory responsibilities, curriculum implementation and pupil achievement.
• Monitoring and feedback need greater precision to target support, training and accountability where most needed.

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 Shaftesbury Junior School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.6% 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 Shaftesbury 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 Shaftesbury Junior School had 22.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.4% 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, 12.6% of pupils at Shaftesbury Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.8% 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 Shaftesbury Junior School received £7,169 and spent £7,310 for each of its 239 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £233,000 (£973 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 Leicester · Leicester local authority: places and applications

What is Shaftesbury Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shaftesbury Junior School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Shaftesbury Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Shaftesbury Junior School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Shaftesbury Junior School have?

Shaftesbury Junior School has 239 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shaftesbury Junior School cover?

Shaftesbury Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Shaftesbury Junior School?

Shaftesbury Junior School is at Latimer Street, Shaftesbury Junior School, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE3 0QE.