Airy Hill Primary School

Airy Hill Primary School is a calm, caring and highly inclusive school where pupils feel safe and behave very well. Inspectors found particular strength in leadership and governance, attendance and behaviour, early years provision, inclusion and pupils’ personal development. Attendance has improved notably, persistent absence has fallen, and pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, are well supported to attend and take part. The early years environment is well organised and staff interactions strongly support communication and language. Safeguarding standards are met. Achievement and curriculum/teaching are solid rather than uniformly strong. Pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics, and national test outcomes have improved, but the wider curriculum is not yet delivered as consistently as the core subjects. Older pupils do not always remember wider-curriculum knowledge in depth or connect their experiences to what they have learned. The school’s next step is to extend the effective core-subject approaches across all subjects. The school is part of Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust and is smaller than average, with above-average location deprivation. Leaders are ambitious, staff feel well supported, and parents are positive. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are included well and achieve well from their starting points.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture where all pupils are supported to learn and thrive
• Strong support for pupils with SEND, with regular review and skilful curriculum adaptation
• Notable improvements in attendance and a significant reduction in persistent absence
• Highly positive behaviour and respectful relationships across the school
• Calm, purposeful classrooms and well-established routines
• Warm, well-resourced early years provision with high-quality communication and language interactions
• Ambitious early years curriculum that builds progressively from Nursery to Reception
• Effective use of pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils
• Ambitious leadership with a clear rationale and precise action for improvement
• Strong governance that balances support and challenge effectively
• High-quality coaching, mentoring and research-informed training for staff
• Comprehensive personal development programme with wide extra-curricular and residential opportunities
• Positive relationships with parents, carers and the community
• Pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics, with outcomes above national averages by the end of key stage 2

Areas for Improvement

• Wider curriculum is not yet as consistently effective as the core subjects
• Pupils do not always remember wider-curriculum knowledge in depth
• Older pupils cannot always link their experiences to wider-curriculum learning

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 Airy Hill Primary School attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.2% 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 Airy Hill 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 Airy Hill Primary School had 25.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.9% 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, 10.8% of pupils at Airy Hill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.2% 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 Airy Hill Primary School received £7,613 and spent £7,501 for each of its 174 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £92,000 (£531 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust, income was £10,725 and spending £10,855 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 Whitby · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

Airy Hill Primary School is part of Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• West Cliff Primary School Whitby
• Oakridge Community Primary School Saltburn-By-The-Sea
• Glaisdale Primary School Whitby
• Lealholm Primary School Whitby
• Castleton Primary School Whitby

What is Airy Hill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Airy Hill Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Airy Hill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Airy Hill Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Airy Hill Primary School have?

Airy Hill Primary School has 185 pupils on roll.

What age range does Airy Hill Primary School cover?

Airy Hill Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Airy Hill Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 85% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Airy Hill Primary School?

Airy Hill Primary School is at Waterstead Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO21 1PZ.