John Clifford Primary School

The school is performing well overall. Inspectors found a caring, calm and purposeful school where pupils are polite, work hard and get on well. Pupils value the school's cultural diversity, new arrivals are welcomed and settle quickly, and personal development is a clear priority through outdoor learning, animal care and activities such as the daily mile and JC triathlon. The school has high academic ambitions and reading is central to the curriculum, with phonics beginning in Reception and effective support helping pupils catch up. Writing and achievement are improving, and the curriculum is ambitious and inclusive, including for pupils with SEND. Leaders have designed a curriculum that builds knowledge over time and is mostly delivered well. Teachers explain concepts clearly, revisit prior learning and use questioning to check understanding. Behaviour is positive and rooted in the school's values, and staff feel supported. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The trust has helped strengthen monitoring and curriculum ambition. However, some activities, including in the early years, are not well designed to secure the intended learning, so pupils do not always learn or recall what was planned. Monitoring of curriculum implementation and impact is not consistently focused enough to identify what is working and what needs to improve. This inspection was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the school is an academy within The White Hills Park Trust; under the current framework it did not receive an overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Strong culture of care and respect, with pupils proud of the school's cultural diversity
• New pupils are welcomed warmly and settle quickly
• Calm and purposeful atmosphere with polite, considerate and hard-working pupils
• Personal development is prioritised through outdoor learning, animal care and the JC triathlon
• Reading is central to the curriculum and phonics teaching begins at the start of Reception
• Effective extra support helps pupils catch up in reading
• Writing is improving through careful teaching, accurate letter formation and clear targets
• Ambitious, interesting and relevant curriculum designed to build knowledge over time
• Teachers explain new concepts clearly and revisit prior learning
• Inclusive provision for pupils with SEND, including bespoke nurturing support
• Positive behaviour is developed deliberately through the JC promises
• Staff, including early career teachers, feel supported
• Trust and local governing committee work in partnership and have helped improve monitoring and curriculum ambition
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Some activities, including in early years, are not purposefully designed to support intended learning
• Pupils do not always secure or recall the intended knowledge because of weaknesses in activity design
• Monitoring of curriculum implementation and impact is not consistently focused enough to identify strengths and weaknesses
• It is not always clear how the school will make improvements in some areas

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 John Clifford Primary School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.1% 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, 0.8% of pupils at John Clifford 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 John Clifford Primary School had 18.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.4% 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, 2.3% of pupils at John Clifford Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 John Clifford Primary School received £7,028 and spent £7,246 for each of its 381 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £50,000 (-£131 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of The White Hills Park Trust Ltd, income was £6,969 and spending £7,152 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 Nottingham · Nottinghamshire local authority: places and applications

John Clifford Primary School is part of The White Hills Park Trust Ltd, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• The Lanes Primary School Nottingham
• Alderman White School Nottingham
• Foxwood Academy Nottingham
• Bramcote College Nottingham
• Arno Vale Junior School Nottingham
• Arnold Mill Primary and Nursery School Nottingham
• The Florence Nightingale Academy Nottingham
• Springbank Academy Nottingham

What is John Clifford Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for John Clifford Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was John Clifford Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

John Clifford Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does John Clifford Primary School have?

John Clifford Primary School has 347 pupils on roll.

What age range does John Clifford Primary School cover?

John Clifford Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are John Clifford Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is John Clifford Primary School?

John Clifford Primary School is at Nether Street, Beeston, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG9 2AT.