Hill View Infant Academy

Hill View Infant Academy is performing well overall. Inspectors found a happy, caring school where pupils attend well, behave well and feel safe. Safeguarding standards are met. Attendance is high, and leaders have thorough systems to identify and improve attendance where it falls below expectations. Behaviour is strong because routines are consistent and pupils are taught to cooperate, manage their feelings and show kindness. Early years provision is a particular strength. Children benefit from warm relationships, carefully tailored play-based learning and secure foundations in early reading, writing and mathematics. Personal development is also well planned, with a broad range of trips, clubs and pastoral support that help pupils understand difference, tolerance and respect. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are generally well supported, and leaders work effectively with families and external agencies. The school is part of Vision Learning Trust and serves a larger-than-average infant population in an area of above-average deprivation. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance are judged at the expected standard. Leaders have a clear vision and accurate improvement priorities, and parents are overwhelmingly positive. The main areas for improvement are ensuring staff consistently correct basic writing errors, deepening some pupils' knowledge in subjects such as religious education and science, and identifying barriers to learning more swiftly so support is precisely matched.

Strengths

• High attendance with thorough systems to identify and improve attendance where needed
• Pupils behave well and are explicitly taught cooperation, compromise and emotional management
• Early years provision is highly effective, with warm relationships and tailored play-based learning
• Children develop secure foundations in early reading, writing and mathematics
• The personal development programme is well tailored, with rich enrichment, trips and clubs
• Pastoral support is highly effective for pupils facing wellbeing challenges
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are generally well supported and included alongside their peers
• Leadership and governance provide a clear vision, accurate priorities and strong parental support
• Safeguarding standards are met
• Pupils feel safe, happy and cared for, and bullying is infrequent

Areas for Improvement

• Staff do not consistently correct pupils' basic writing errors, including letter formation, orientation and size
• Some pupils' knowledge in religious education and science is not as deep as it could be
• In a few cases, staff do not identify barriers to learning swiftly enough, so teaching is not always precisely matched to pupils' needs

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 Hill View Infant Academy attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.3% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Hill View Infant Academy 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 Hill View Infant Academy had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.5% 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, 9.6% of pupils at Hill View Infant Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.1% 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 Hill View Infant Academy received £6,694 and spent £6,498 for each of its 444 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £399,000 (£899 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Vision Learning Trust Limited, income was £5,886 and spending £5,756 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 Sunderland · Sunderland local authority: places and applications

Hill View Infant Academy is part of Vision Learning Trust Limited, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Hill View Junior Academy Sunderland
• Barnes Infant Academy Sunderland

What is Hill View Infant Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hill View Infant Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Hill View Infant Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Hill View Infant Academy was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Hill View Infant Academy have?

Hill View Infant Academy has 439 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hill View Infant Academy cover?

Hill View Infant Academy for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Hill View Infant Academy?

Hill View Infant Academy is at Helvellyn Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR2 9JJ.