Wensum Junior School

Wensum Junior School is a good school where pupils are happy, safe and well cared for. The school's personal development and wellbeing provision is a significant strength, with a carefully tailored programme that ensures pupils are open-minded, tolerant and well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils behave well, attendance is improving, and achievement is now broadly in line with national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils and those who speak English as an additional language. Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development, and governance is effective in holding leaders to account.

Strengths

• Personal development and wellbeing provision is a significant strength
• Pupils are happy, safe and feel well supported by staff
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, and bullying is rare
• Attendance has improved and is now in line with national averages
• Pupils with complex SEND make significant progress from low starting points
• The 'learning village' supports pupils with EAL to make rapid progress
• Leaders have an astute understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development
• Governors and trustees effectively hold leaders to account
• Staff value the support, training and consideration of their wellbeing
• Parental perception of the school has improved considerably

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not write at length or with sufficient accuracy
• Some pupils do not have sufficient practice to apply mathematical knowledge independently
• Some staff do not identify inaccuracy in pupils' spelling and punctuation
• The quality of pupils' handwriting is inconsistent, with some inaccurate letter formation
• A small minority of pupils with SEND do not attend as well as they could
• At times, some learning activities do not ensure that some pupils learn as much as they could
• Leaders need to ensure high ambitions are realised so pupils build more complex knowledge with confidence

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 Wensum Junior School attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.6% 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, 4.8% of pupils at Wensum 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 Wensum Junior School had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Wensum Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Wensum Junior School received £7,497 and spent £7,692 for each of its 187 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £173,000 (£923 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Evolution Academy Trust, income was £6,922 and spending £7,234 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Wensum Junior School is part of Evolution Academy Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• Nelson Infant School Norwich
• Angel Road Infant School Norwich
• Angel Road Junior School Norwich
• Bignold Primary School and Nursery Norwich
• Costessey Primary School Norwich
• Eaton Primary School Norwich
• Filby Primary School Great Yarmouth
• Dell Primary School Lowestoft
• Elm Tree Primary School Lowestoft
• Poplars Community Primary School Lowestoft

What is Wensum Junior School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Wensum Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Wensum Junior School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Wensum Junior School have?

Wensum Junior School has 153 pupils on roll.

What age range does Wensum Junior School cover?

Wensum Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 65% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Wensum Junior School?

Wensum Junior School is at Turner Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 4HB.