Westende Junior School

Westende Junior School is a welcoming, nurturing and cheerful community where pupils feel safe and speak highly of their school. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection; the school converted to academy status in July 2022 and is part of The Circle Trust. It also has a specialist resource base for 14 pupils with autism, all of whom have education, health and care plans. Pupils are focused, studious and resilient, behaviour is exemplary, and personal development is exceptionally strong. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, reading is a priority, and pupils with SEND are well supported to access the same learning as their peers. Attendance is high and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement are the consistency of phonics teaching for the small number of pupils who need extra support and the embedding of the ambitious curriculum. Some phonics support is not consistent enough, with sounds not always clearly modelled and pupils not always able to practise what they are learning, so a few pupils are not becoming as fluent in reading as they could. In addition, the curriculum is not yet securely embedded in all areas, meaning some pupils do not always achieve as highly as the school intends. Leaders have suitable plans and training in place, and need to continue this work so that staff consistently implement the intended curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and are very positive about their welcoming, nurturing school.
• Pupils are focused, studious and resilient, and achieve well.
• Behaviour across the school is exemplary, with kindness and respect between pupils and staff.
• The exceptional personal development programme helps pupils become responsible and active citizens.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of leadership roles, clubs and charity work.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with secure knowledge development in many subjects.
• Reading is a priority, supported by a well-used library and carefully chosen diverse texts.
• Staff skilfully adapt teaching so pupils with SEND access ambitious learning opportunities.
• Pupils in The Acorns class are carefully supported to learn alongside their peers.
• Attendance is high and pupils’ attitudes to learning are remarkably positive.
• Trust and school leaders help staff feel valued, and parents value the kindness shown to children.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Phonics teaching for the small number of pupils who need it is not consistent.
• Sounds are not always clearly modelled, and pupils do not always practise the letters and sounds they are learning.
• Some pupils are not getting the support they need to become confident and fluent readers.
• The ambitious curriculum is not yet securely embedded across all subjects.
• Some pupils do not always achieve as highly as the school intends.
• Staff need continued training and support to implement the intended curriculum consistently.

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 Westende Junior School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.5% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Westende 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 Westende Junior School had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% 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, 13.7% of pupils at Westende Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 9 pupils.

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 Westende Junior School received £7,587 and spent £7,542 for each of its 238 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £426,000 (£1,791 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Circle Trust, income was £6,360 and spending £6,297 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.

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Wokingham · Wokingham local authority: places and applications

Westende Junior School is part of The Circle Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• St Crispin's School Wokingham
• Wescott Infant School Wokingham
• The Emmbrook School Wokingham
• Emmbrook Infant School Wokingham
• Emmbrook Junior School Wokingham
• The Hawthorns Primary School Wokingham
• Nine Mile Ride Primary School Wokingham
• Owlsmoor Primary School Sandhurst
• Shinfield Infant and Nursery School Reading
• Badgemore Primary School Henley-On-Thames

What is Westende Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Westende Junior School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Westende Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Westende Junior School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Westende Junior School have?

Westende Junior School has 241 pupils on roll.

What age range does Westende Junior School cover?

Westende Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Westende Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Westende Junior School?

Westende Junior School is at Seaford Road, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 2EJ.