Sunnyside Primary Academy

Sunnyside Primary Academy is a caring and orderly school where pupils feel safe, behave well and attend regularly. Inspectors found good provision in behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years, with safeguarding effective. The school has a clear ethos that ‘every child can shine’, strong relationships, a broad set of experiences and clubs, and reading and phonics are a priority. The new curriculum is well sequenced and teaching is enthusiastic, but the quality of education requires improvement because implementation is still at an early stage. Leaders have made substantial changes after recognising the previous curriculum would not meet their ambitions, and the school has become more stable after temporary leadership and staffing issues. However, checks on what pupils know are sometimes not thorough enough and are not consistently used to adapt teaching, so misconceptions and gaps are not always addressed. Support for pupils with SEND and those learning English as an additional language is not always adapted precisely enough. Pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values, equalities and discrimination is also not as well developed as it should be. The trust provides clear oversight and support, and staff feel valued, though leaders do not monitor the introduction of changes closely enough to identify training needs quickly.

Strengths

• Caring, positive relationships help pupils feel secure and support a calm, purposeful atmosphere.
• High expectations for behaviour are clear and typically pupils behave well in lessons and at social times.
• Pupils enjoy a range of enriching trips and clubs that develop their interests and character.
• Attendance is good and the school has robust systems to manage absence and work with families.
• Early years provision gives children firm foundations in early reading, writing and mathematics.
• Reading is a priority, with effective phonics teaching and good support for pupils who fall behind.
• The school has developed a well-sequenced curriculum that clearly identifies key knowledge.
• Teaching is enthusiastic and engages pupils.
• The school has improved identification of SEND needs and support for pupils with SEND.
• Personal development provision mostly prepares pupils well for life beyond school, including health and safety.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Trust has clear strategic oversight and provides support; staff mostly feel valued and well supported.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement because the new curriculum is still being embedded.
• Checks on pupils’ knowledge and understanding are sometimes not thorough enough to identify misconceptions and gaps.
• Assessment information is not used consistently to adapt teaching and help pupils build on their knowledge.
• Learning is not always adapted precisely enough for pupils with SEND and pupils learning English as an additional language.
• Pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values, equalities and discrimination is not developed to an age-appropriate depth.
• Leaders do not check the introduction of changes closely enough to identify where staff need timely training or support.

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 Sunnyside Primary Academy attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.8% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Sunnyside Primary Academy 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 Sunnyside Primary Academy had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.3% 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, 9.6% of pupils at Sunnyside Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.9% 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 2024–25 Sunnyside Primary Academy received £6,541 and spent £6,747 for each of its 387 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £455,000 (£1,176 per pupil).

Across all 37 schools of Greenwood Academies Trust, income was £8,670 and spending £8,578 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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All schools in Northampton · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

Sunnyside Primary Academy is part of Greenwood Academies Trust, which runs 38 schools. The nearest others:

• Purple Oaks Academy Northampton
• Green Oaks Primary Academy Northampton
• Weston Favell Academy Northampton
• Woodvale Primary Academy Northampton
• Tiffield Academy Towcester
• Rushden Primary Academy Rushden
• Danesholme Infant Academy Corby
• Danesholme Junior Academy Corby
• Kingswood Secondary Academy Corby
• Kingswood Primary Academy Corby

What is Sunnyside Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sunnyside Primary Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Sunnyside Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Sunnyside Primary Academy was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Sunnyside Primary Academy have?

Sunnyside Primary Academy has 364 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sunnyside Primary Academy cover?

Sunnyside Primary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Sunnyside Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Sunnyside Primary Academy?

Sunnyside Primary Academy is at Reynard Way, Northampton, NN2 8QS.