Polehampton Church of England Junior School

Polehampton Church of England Junior School is performing well overall. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection; the school is a Church of England junior academy within The Keys Academy Trust, led by an executive headteacher alongside co-headteachers. Inspectors were positive about all four key areas and found safeguarding effective. Pupils are happy and proud to belong to a warm, friendly community, and their behaviour is calm and respectful. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, reading is prioritised, pupils with SEND are well supported, and personal development is strong through leadership roles, trips and work on diversity. Leadership is accurate and improvement-focused, with staff feeling valued and governors and the trust providing appropriate challenge and support. The main areas for improvement concern the consistency and precision of teaching and assessment. In a few cases, teaching strategies do not help pupils build secure understanding, and in some foundation subjects checks on learning over time do not identify misconceptions, allowing gaps to persist. These issues are not evident in the core subjects, where teachers identify and correct knowledge gaps effectively.

Strengths

• Warm, friendly and close school community where pupils are proud and happy
• Pupils understand and live out the school values through positive behaviour
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with carefully organised important knowledge
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge across subjects
• Reading is prioritised and pupils develop strong reading skills
• Additional reading support helps pupils at earlier stages catch up quickly
• Learning is carefully adapted for pupils with SEND
• Teaching assistants provide high-quality specialist support
• Pupils behave calmly and respectfully around school and in lessons
• Personal development is purposeful, including character, safety and responsibility
• Pupils explore diversity and develop respectful attitudes
• Staff feel valued and leaders manage workload well
• Governors and the trust provide appropriate challenge and support
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In a few cases, teachers use strategies less effectively, so pupils do not always develop a clear understanding of key ideas
• In some foundation subjects, checks on pupils' learning over time do not identify misconceptions well
• Future teaching in some wider-curriculum subjects does not address gaps, so pupils can continue to have misconceptions

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 Polehampton Church of England Junior School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.9% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Polehampton Church of England 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 Polehampton Church of England Junior School had 19.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 30.2% 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, 7.3% of pupils at Polehampton Church of England Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 Polehampton Church of England Junior School received £6,283 and spent £6,218 for each of its 234 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £116,000 (£497 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of The Keys Academy Trust, income was £6,910 and spending £6,798 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 Reading · Wokingham local authority: places and applications

Polehampton Church of England Junior School is part of The Keys Academy Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Polehampton Church of England Infant and Nursery School Reading
• St Nicholas Church of England Primary, Hurst Wokingham
• Sonning Church of England Primary School Reading
• Crazies Hill Church of England Primary School Reading
• Earley St Peter's Church of England Primary School Reading
• St Cecilia's CofE Primary School Wokingham
• The Coombes Church of England Primary School Reading
• Alder Grove Church of England Primary School Shinfield
• Saint Sebastians Church of England Primary School and Nursery Wokingham
• Grazeley Church of England Primary School Reading

What is Polehampton Church of England Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Polehampton Church of England Junior School is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Polehampton Church of England Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Polehampton Church of England Junior School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Polehampton Church of England Junior School have?

Polehampton Church of England Junior School has 232 pupils on roll.

What age range does Polehampton Church of England Junior School cover?

Polehampton Church of England Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Polehampton Church of England Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Polehampton Church of England Junior School?

Polehampton Church of England Junior School is at Kibblewhite Crescent, Twyford, Reading, Berkshire, RG10 9AX.