Castle Hill Junior School

Castle Hill Junior School has shown a commendable improvement in its overall effectiveness, moving from a previous grade of requires improvement to a current rating of good. The school fosters a positive and supportive environment, where pupils feel safe and happy, promoting attributes such as pride and respect. With a well-planned curriculum, particularly strong in core subjects like English and mathematics, the school meets the needs of its pupils effectively, especially those with SEND who make good progress. The school is part of the Asset Education Trust, which bolsters its leadership structure and resources.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and feel safe at school.
• The curriculum is broad and well-planned in core subjects.
• Effective support is provided for pupils struggling with reading.
• Pupils with SEND are fully included and supported in their learning.
• Positive relationships between pupils and staff foster a respectful environment.

Areas for Improvement

• Some foundation subjects lack clarity in what pupils need to learn.
• Consistency in implementing the curriculum across classes is not well checked.

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 Castle Hill Junior School attended 94.2% 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, 0.3% of pupils at Castle Hill 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 Castle Hill Junior School had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.2% 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, 18.4% of pupils at Castle Hill Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 13.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 10 pupils.

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 Castle Hill Junior School received £8,626 and spent £7,727 for each of its 286 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £161,000 (£562 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Asset Education, income was £7,219 and spending £6,496 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 Ipswich · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Castle Hill Junior School is part of Asset Education, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• Castle Hill Infant School Ipswich
• The Beeches Community Primary School Ipswich
• St Helen's Primary School Ipswich
• The Oaks Primary School Ipswich
• Cliff Lane Primary School Ipswich
• Ringshall School Stowmarket
• Stutton Church of England Primary School Ipswich
• Waldringfield Primary School Woodbridge
• Shotley Community Primary School Ipswich
• Hollesley Primary School Woodbridge

What is Castle Hill Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Castle Hill Junior School is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was Castle Hill Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Castle Hill Junior School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does Castle Hill Junior School have?

Castle Hill Junior School has 288 pupils on roll.

What age range does Castle Hill Junior School cover?

Castle Hill Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

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

Where is Castle Hill Junior School?

Castle Hill Junior School is at Dryden Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 6QD.