Oatlands Community Junior School

Oatlands Community Junior School is a strongly performing school. Inspectors found the quality of education good and behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management outstanding. Pupils are described as polite, respectful, highly engaged and proud of their school, with exemplary behaviour and consistently high attendance. The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, pupils including those with SEND achieve well, and many exceed expected standards. Reading is prioritised and personal development is extensive, preparing pupils well for life in modern Britain. Governance, staff support and parental confidence are notable strengths, and safeguarding is effective. The main area for improvement is early writing. Some pupils join without the phonics knowledge needed to read confidently and write accurately, and the support they receive does not consistently give them enough purposeful practice applying phonics to writing. Writing outcomes are weaker than in other areas, and some pupils are given writing tasks beyond their developmental stage, affecting confidence and interest. The school has begun refreshing spelling and should sharpen early writing practice. The school is part of The Red Kite Learning Trust and was inspected in January 2025. Under the current framework it did not receive an overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum from Year 3 to Year 6
• Strong pupil achievement, including for pupils with SEND
• Skilled teaching and effective checks on learning
• Reading prioritised and pupils encouraged to enjoy books
• Exemplary pupil behaviour and respectful attitudes
• Consistently high attendance and rigorous monitoring
• Extensive personal development and PSHE programme
• Pupils well prepared for life in modern Britain
• Effective governance and appropriate support and challenge
• Considerate approach to staff workload and strong training
• Overwhelmingly supportive parents
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Rich enrichment, trips, clubs and pupil leadership roles

Areas for Improvement

• Early writing and phonics application are not precise enough
• Some pupils lack regular, purposeful opportunities to apply phonics knowledge to writing
• Writing outcomes are weaker than in other subjects
• Some pupils are given writing activities beyond their developmental stage, affecting confidence and interest

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 Oatlands Community Junior School attended 97.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.2% 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 Oatlands Community 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 Oatlands Community Junior School had 24.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.2% 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, 9.3% of pupils at Oatlands Community Junior 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 2024–25 Oatlands Community Junior School received £5,744 and spent £5,817 for each of its 361 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £125,000 (-£346 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of Red Kite Learning Trust, income was £8,002 and spending £7,952 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 Harrogate · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

Oatlands Community Junior School is part of Red Kite Learning Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• Harrogate Grammar School Harrogate
• Rossett Acre Primary School Harrogate
• Rossett School Harrogate
• Western Primary School Harrogate
• Coppice Valley Primary School Harrogate
• Saltergate Junior School Harrogate
• Saltergate Infant School Harrogate
• Templenewsam Halton Primary School Leeds
• Temple Learning Academy Leeds
• Meadowfield Primary School Leeds

What is Oatlands Community Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Oatlands Community Junior School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Oatlands Community Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Oatlands Community Junior School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Oatlands Community Junior School have?

Oatlands Community Junior School has 356 pupils on roll.

What age range does Oatlands Community Junior School cover?

Oatlands Community Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 77% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Oatlands Community Junior School?

Oatlands Community Junior School is at Beechwood Grove, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 8QP.