Pickering Community Infant School

Pickering Community Infant School is performing well overall, achieving a good rating across key areas such as the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Pupils are happy, safe, and engaged in their learning, benefiting from strong relationships with staff and various leadership opportunities. The school has made positive strides, particularly in phonics and reading, notable strengths include a cohesive, thematic curriculum and effective personal development programs. However, the school's early years provision has been identified as an area needing improvement, as children are not adequately prepared for the next stage of their education.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and safe in a welcoming environment.
• Strong staff-pupil relationships foster a nurturing atmosphere.
• Pupils have opportunities for leadership and participation in initiatives like the Eco-Council.
• The personal development curriculum effectively promotes safety and independence.
• The school has made improvements in the teaching of phonics and early reading.

Areas for Improvement

• The early years curriculum is inconsistently implemented, leading to lower outcomes.
• Some aspects of reading instruction beyond phonics are underdeveloped.
• Certain curriculum subjects lack coherent sequencing, hindering knowledge retention.

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 Pickering Community Infant School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.1% 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 Pickering Community Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Pickering Community Infant School had 21.9 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, 9.1% of pupils at Pickering Community Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.0% 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 Pickering Community Infant School received £6,914 and spent £7,145 for each of its 176 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £37,000 (-£210 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 Pickering · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

What is Pickering Community Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pickering Community Infant School is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was Pickering Community Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pickering Community Infant School was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does Pickering Community Infant School have?

Pickering Community Infant School has 197 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pickering Community Infant School cover?

Pickering Community Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Pickering Community Infant School?

Pickering Community Infant School is at Ruffa Lane, Pickering, North Yorkshire, YO18 7AT.