Janet Duke Primary School

Janet Duke Primary School is a large, inclusive primary school in the Cresco Multi-Academy Trust, serving a community with above-average deprivation and a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils. Inspectors judged the school to be meeting the expected standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. Leaders have created a welcoming school with an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum, strong early years provision, effective phonics and reading teaching, and good support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils are happy, safe, behave well and benefit from a broad personal development programme.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well sequenced from early years to Year 6.
• Reading and phonics are taught well, with books closely matched to pupils' reading knowledge.
• Leaders prioritise spoken language and vocabulary across the curriculum.
• Pupils revisit important knowledge and can explain key concepts confidently.
• Teachers provide effective adaptations and support for most pupils with SEND.
• Early years provision has improved since the previous inspection and has a clear, ambitious vision.
• Children in early years settle quickly, become independent and are safe and happy.
• Most children develop secure foundations in early reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school has an inclusive culture and identifies pupils' needs accurately and early.
• Alternative provision is used effectively and improves pupils' attendance, behaviour and achievement.
• Additional funding is used well to support disadvantaged pupils, including language and pastoral support.
• Leaders, the trust and governors have a clear focus and have improved several areas since the previous inspection.
• Staff morale is high, and leaders manage wellbeing and workload effectively.
• Personal development is broad and ambitious, with clubs, responsibilities, enrichment and funded visits.
• Pupils are happy, safe, well cared for and generally behave well.
• Bullying is rare and staff deal with it quickly and effectively.
• Achievement is improving in pupils' books and lessons, particularly in reading and mathematics.
• Most pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, progress well from their starting points.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is below the expected standard; pupils have not achieved as well as they should in national tests and assessments.
• Attendance is consistently below the national average and is the biggest barrier to some pupils' achievement.
• Persistent absence is well above the national average.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are particularly affected by low attendance and underachieve.
• Published outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are below national averages.
• Teaching strategies and expectations are not consistently effective, particularly in writing.
• Some pupils do not develop fluent and legible handwriting, limiting how well they record their learning.
• Some pupils do not develop the knowledge needed to solve mathematical problems.
• Leaders' attendance monitoring systems are not as well developed as they could be, and strategies are not evaluated well enough.
• Writing requires further improvement across the school.
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance gaps are large across reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils are not as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they could be.

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 Janet Duke Primary School attended 90.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 29.9% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Janet Duke Primary 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 Janet Duke Primary School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.1% 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, 19.8% of pupils at Janet Duke Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Janet Duke Primary School received £7,791 and spent £7,463 for each of its 629 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £870,000 (£1,383 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Cresco Multi Academy Trust, income was £6,927 and spending £6,851 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 Basildon · Essex local authority: places and applications

Janet Duke Primary School is part of Cresco Multi Academy Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Noak Bridge Primary School Basildon
• Lincewood Primary Academy Basildon
• Great Berry Primary School Basildon

What is Janet Duke Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Janet Duke Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Janet Duke Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Janet Duke Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Janet Duke Primary School have?

Janet Duke Primary School has 611 pupils on roll.

What age range does Janet Duke Primary School cover?

Janet Duke Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Janet Duke Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Janet Duke Primary School?

Janet Duke Primary School is at Markhams Chase, Laindon, Basildon, Essex, SS15 5LS.