Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe

Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School is performing well overall, rated as good across all key areas including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The school provides a welcoming environment where children are encouraged to settle quickly and develop their confidence and language skills. Strong leadership and high expectations ensure that pupils enjoy learning and are well-prepared for their next educational steps. Despite these strengths, there is room for improvement in curriculum planning to ensure that knowledge and vocabulary are clearly mapped for all subjects.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, well-behaved, and welcoming to newcomers.
• Strong leadership with high expectations for pupil learning.
• Effective professional development for staff.
• Prioritization of reading and phonics in early years education.
• Good support for pupils with SEND to make progress.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum plans in some subjects do not clearly outline the knowledge and vocabulary needed.
• Some subject leaders lack opportunities to evaluate and improve the quality of education.

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 Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.5% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe 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 Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe had 21.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.7% 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, 12.7% of pupils at Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe received £6,203 and spent £6,468 for each of its 378 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £26,000 (-£69 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Broad Horizons Education Trust, income was £8,232 and spending £8,091 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

Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe is part of Broad Horizons Education Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• Thorpe St Andrew School and Sixth Form Norwich
• Dussindale Primary School Norwich
• Sprowston Community Academy Norwich
• St. Clements Hill Primary Academy Norwich
• Sewell Park Academy Norwich
• Edith Cavell Academy and Nursery Norwich
• Tuckswood Academy Norwich
• Eaton Hall Specialist Academy Norwich
• Hemblington Primary School Norwich
• Bluebell Primary School Norwich

What is Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe is Good, from an inspection in November 2022.

When was Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe last inspected by Ofsted?

Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe was last inspected in November 2022.

How many pupils does Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe have?

Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe has 378 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe cover?

Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe?

Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe is at Hillside Avenue, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0QW.