John Ray Junior School

John Ray Junior School has seen significant improvements since converting to an academy in 2017. The school has established a positive learning environment where pupils feel happy and safe, and the quality of education is now good across all areas. Teachers have enhanced the curriculum, ensuring that pupils develop their knowledge in a logical order, particularly in reading and mathematics. While the school emphasizes reading and writing, fostering fluent readers and confident writers, attendance remains a concern as it falls below the national average. Overall, staff and leaders are committed to continuous development and addressing areas that require further improvement.

Strengths

• Pupils display a strong enthusiasm for learning and enjoy their time at school.
• The quality of education has improved significantly in recent years.
• Teachers successfully engage pupils with fun and exciting learning activities.
• Pupils are becoming more fluent readers and writers due to focused teaching strategies.
• There is effective support for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs.
• Leaders have established a strong safeguarding culture within the school.

Areas for Improvement

• Some areas of the curriculum are not yet fully developed, leading to inconsistencies in subject provision.
• Attendance is lower than the national average, affecting some pupils' 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 John Ray Junior School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.1% 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, 0.5% of pupils at John Ray 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 John Ray Junior School had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.2% 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, 20.3% of pupils at John Ray Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 John Ray Junior School received £6,151 and spent £5,707 for each of its 436 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £573,000 (£1,313 per pupil).

Across all 24 schools of The Compass Partnership of Schools, income was £10,246 and spending £9,845 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 Braintree · Essex local authority: places and applications

John Ray Junior School is part of The Compass Partnership of Schools, which runs 28 schools. The nearest others:

• John Ray Infant School Braintree
• Notley Green Primary School Braintree
• Shalford Primary School Braintree
• Cann Hall Primary School Clacton-On-Sea
• Pathways School Dagenham
• Ravenswood Community Primary School Ipswich
• Rushmere Hall Primary School Ipswich
• Horizon Academy London
• Earlham Primary School London
• Boxgrove Primary School Greenwich

What is John Ray Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for John Ray Junior School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was John Ray Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

John Ray Junior School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does John Ray Junior School have?

John Ray Junior School has 439 pupils on roll.

What age range does John Ray Junior School cover?

John Ray Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is John Ray Junior School?

John Ray Junior School is at Notley Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1HL.