St James Infant School

St James Infant School is performing well overall, with a 'Good' rating in all areas except for Early Years provision, which has been rated as 'Outstanding'. The school is characterized by a positive and inclusive environment where pupils feel happy and supported. Pupils are encouraged to develop values such as teamwork, fairness, and respect, contributing to their strong personal development and good behavior. Despite this positive performance, there are some areas that require attention, particularly in ensuring all pupils retain and recall what they have learned across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy a high-quality reading experience linked to the curriculum.
• The Early Years provision is exceptional, fostering independence and collaboration.
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is of high quality.
• The school encourages a caring and inclusive atmosphere that values all students.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and present information clearly.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, not all pupils are recalling what they have learned effectively.
• Teachers are not consistently checking when to move pupils' learning on.

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 St James Infant School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.2% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St James Infant 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 St James Infant School had 23.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.2% 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, 22.1% of pupils at St James Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.5% 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 St James Infant School received £7,334 and spent £6,943 for each of its 189 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £725,000 (£3,838 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Inmat, income was £6,569 and spending £6,333 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 Daventry · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

St James Infant School is part of Inmat, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Falconer's Hill Infant School Daventry
• Ashby Fields Primary School Daventry
• The Abbey Primary School Northampton
• Kingsley Primary School Northampton
• Standens Barn Primary School Northampton
• Rothwell Victoria Infant School Kettering
• Rothwell Junior School Kettering
• Little Harrowden Community Primary School Wellingborough
• Hall Meadow Primary School Kettering
• Wollaston Primary School Wellingborough

What is St James Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St James Infant School is Good, from an inspection in April 2024.

When was St James Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

St James Infant School was last inspected in April 2024.

How many pupils does St James Infant School have?

St James Infant School has 199 pupils on roll.

What age range does St James Infant School cover?

St James Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 8.

Where is St James Infant School?

St James Infant School is at 90 St James Street, Daventry, Northamptonshire, NN11 4AG.