Lionwood Junior School

Lionwood Junior School is performing well overall, with an overall effectiveness rated as good. The school's positive environment fosters strong relationships between pupils and staff, with a focus on meeting the social and emotional needs of all students. Behaviour is consistently good, and personal development is a particular strength, providing pupils with ample opportunities to thrive in various extracurricular activities. The leaders have made significant progress in enhancing the quality of education since the last inspection, ensuring that the curriculum is well-structured and knowledge is built upon effectively. Despite the overall strengths, there are areas for improvement, particularly regarding the subject knowledge of some teachers. This lack of confidence can occasionally lead to misconceptions in pupils' understanding not being addressed swiftly. The leadership team understands these challenges and is focused on providing the necessary training to staff, which reflects their commitment to continuous improvement in educational quality.

Strengths

• Strong relationships fostered between pupils and staff
• Outstanding personal development program
• High-quality support for personal, social and emotional needs
• Well-structured curriculum that promotes rich knowledge acquisition
• Effective support for pupils struggling with reading
• A wide range of extracurricular activities available for pupils

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers lack secure subject knowledge, affecting consistency in teaching

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 Lionwood Junior School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.1% 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, 3.7% of pupils at Lionwood 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 Lionwood Junior School had 23.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 34.5% 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, 31.4% of pupils at Lionwood Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 7 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 2023–24 Lionwood Junior School received £7,640 and spent £7,413 for each of its 260 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £293,000 (£1,126 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Clarion Corvus Trust, income was £7,184 and spending £7,455 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

Lionwood Junior School is part of Clarion Corvus Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Lionwood Infant and Nursery School Norwich
• Mousehold Infant & Nursery School Norwich
• George White Junior School Norwich
• Drayton Community Infant School Norwich
• Nightingale Infant & Nursery School Norwich
• Hobart High School Norwich
• Manor Field Infant and Nursery School Norwich
• Aslacton Primary School Norwich
• Thurlton Primary School Norwich
• Pakefield High School Lowestoft

What is Lionwood Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lionwood Junior School is Good, from an inspection in April 2023.

When was Lionwood Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lionwood Junior School was last inspected in April 2023.

How many pupils does Lionwood Junior School have?

Lionwood Junior School has 239 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lionwood Junior School cover?

Lionwood Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lionwood Junior School?

Lionwood Junior School is at Wolfe Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 4HT.