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John Ray Infant School

Primary Ages 2-7 319 pupils Braintree
Ofsted: Good
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John Ray Infant School is an academy converter in Braintree for pupils aged 2 to 7. It has 319 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for John Ray Infant School is Good, from an inspection in November 2019 of its predecessor, John Ray Infant School.

Ofsted inspection: July 2024.

Type Primary / Academy converter
Age Range 2-7
Religion Does not apply
Address Notley Road
Braintree
Essex
CM7 1HL
Reference Number 150501

General Makeup

Number of pupils 319
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 50.78%
Girls: 49.22%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 20.2%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 13.8%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 25.8
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 28.4

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 47 38 85
2 53 58 111

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 64.9%
White, Other 11.9%
Mixed, Other 5.3%
Unclassified 3.8%
African 3.8%
Indian 1.6%
Pakistani 1.6%
Asian, Other 1.6%
White & Black (Caribbean) 1.3%
White & Asian 1.3%
White & Black (African) 0.6%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, John Ray Infant School, inspected in November 2019.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date This school has not had an inspection yet.
Date Report
05 Jul 2024 Academy conversion letter

Reception admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 21 2
Third Preference 26 0
From another Local Authority 2 1

Previous years

Sample

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 John Ray Infant School had 308 pupils for 360 places. 52 places (14.4%) were unfilled.

Reception intake in the “Braintree Primary E: Southwest (Braintree)” planning area

Essex counted 654 Reception pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 685 in 2029–30, up 5%.

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 Ray Infant School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

2025
Authorised absence 3.7%
Unauthorised absence 1.5%
Severely absent pupils 0.4%

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, 0.3% of pupils at John Ray Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 0.3
Permanent exclusions 0

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 Ray Infant School had 22.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

20252026
Pupils per adult 8.310.6
Teachers who left state teaching 20.4%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 52.6%–
Sick days per teacher 2.1–

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, 12.9% of pupils at John Ray Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Speech, language and communication needs 22 2
Autistic spectrum disorder 9 5
Social, emotional and mental health 3 2
No specialist assessment of need 3 0
Hearing impairment 1 0
Other difficulty or disability 1 0
Physical disability 1 0
Profound and multiple learning difficulty 0 1
Specific learning difficulty 1 0

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 Ray Infant School received £7,273 and spent £7,973 for each of its 324 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £426,000 (£1,314 per pupil).

Across all 24 schools of The Compass Partnership of Schools, income was £10,246 and spending £9,845 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2025
Revenue reserve £426,000
per pupil £1,314
In-year balance -£227,000
per pupil -£701

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.

Name Distance
John Ray Junior School
Notley Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1HL
0 miles
St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Maple Avenue, Braintree, Essex, CM7 2NS
0.97 miles
Notley Green Primary School
Blickling Road, Great Notley, Braintree, Essex, CM77 7ZJ
1 miles
St Francis Catholic Primary School, Braintree
Gilchrist Way, Gilchrist Way, Braintree, Essex, CM7 2SY
1.12 miles
White Court School
Ennerdale Avenue, Great Notley, Braintree, Essex, CM77 7UE
1.15 miles
Beckers Green Primary School
Beckers Green Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 3PR
1.3 miles
John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery
Lancaster Way, John Bunyanprimary, Braintree, Essex, CM7 5UL
1.33 miles
Great Bradfords Junior School
Marlborough Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 9LW
1.4 miles
Great Bradfords Infant and Nursery School
Marlborough Road, Great Bradfords Estate, Braintree, Essex, CM7 9LW
1.4 miles
Lyons Hall School
Deerleap Way, Braintree, Essex, CM7 9FH
1.65 miles
Cressing Primary School
Braintree Road, Tye Green, Cressing, Braintree, Essex, CM77 8JE
1.72 miles
Rayne Primary and Nursery School
Capel Road, Rayne, Braintree, CM77 6BZ
2.17 miles
Bocking Primary School
Church Street, Bocking, Braintree, Essex, CM7 5LA
2.55 miles
White Notley Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School
Vicarage Avenue, White Notley, Witham, Essex, CM8 1RZ
2.82 miles
Stisted Church of England Primary Academy
The Street, Stisted, Braintree, Essex, CM77 8AN
3.2 miles
Great Leighs Primary School
Aragon Road, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 1RP
3.32 miles
Silver End Academy
School Road, Silver End, Witham, Essex, CM8 3RZ
3.57 miles
Terling Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
New Road, Terling, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 2PN
4.23 miles
Felsted Primary School
Watch House Green, Felsted, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 3EB
4.31 miles
Shalford Primary School
Church End, Shalford, Braintree, Essex, CM7 5EZ
4.49 miles
Name Distance
Notley High School and Sixth Form
Notley Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1WY
0.13 miles
Alec Hunter Academy
Stubbs Lane, Braintree, Essex, CM7 3NR
1.04 miles
Tabor Academy
Panfield Lane, Braintree, Essex, CM7 5XP
1.39 miles
The Edith Borthwick School
Enterprise Drive, Braintree, Essex, CM7 2YN
1.58 miles
Southview School
Conrad Road, Witham, Essex, CM8 2TA
4.84 miles
Lift New Rickstones
Conrad Road, Witham, Essex, CM8 2SD
4.87 miles
Felsted School
Stebbing Road, Felsted, CM6 3LL
4.9 miles

All schools in Braintree · Essex local authority: places and applications

John Ray Infant School is part of The Compass Partnership of Schools, which runs 28 schools. The nearest others:

What is John Ray Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for John Ray Infant School is Good, from an inspection in November 2019 of its predecessor, John Ray Infant School.

When was John Ray Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

John Ray Infant School was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does John Ray Infant School have?

John Ray Infant School has 319 pupils on roll.

What age range does John Ray Infant School cover?

John Ray Infant School for pupils aged 2 to 7.

Where is John Ray Infant School?

John Ray Infant School is at Notley Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1HL.

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