Ashfield Junior School

About Ashfield Junior School

Ashfield Junior School in Cumberland received a Requires Improvement rating from Ofsted in its most recent graded inspection in July 2024, a downgrade from the Good rating it had held since its previous inspection in 2018. The most telling academic metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which stood at 45% in the 2023/24 academic year. That is nine percentage points below the Cumberland local authority average of 54% for primary schools, placing Ashfield in the bottom half of schools nationally and regionally. The school ranks 75th out of 111 primary schools in the local authority, putting it in the bottom 50% of its peers. While the overall picture is one of challenge, the Ofsted breakdown shows that inspectors rated behaviour and attitudes, as well as personal development, as Good. The quality of education and leadership and management were both judged to require improvement, pointing to the specific areas the school’s headteacher, Sue Frost, will need to address.

Looking more closely at the individual subjects, the school’s strongest performance was in writing, where 68% of pupils met the expected standard, followed by reading at 65% and maths at 60%. At the higher standard, the figures drop sharply: just 3% of pupils achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined, with maths at 11%, reading at 23% and writing at only 5%. The average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 102 in maths, both slightly above the national average of 100, which suggests that while many pupils are meeting the basic benchmark, fewer are excelling. The school’s ranking score of 45, based on the KS2 reading, writing and maths expected standard metric, places it in the bottom 50% nationally. For context, the top-performing local primary, Jericho Primary School, scored 89, highlighting the gap Ashfield needs to close. There is no progress score data available, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points.

Ashfield Junior School is a state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 7 to 11, with 255 pupils on roll against a capacity of 256, meaning it is essentially full. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 21.6%, slightly above the national average, indicating a higher-than-average level of disadvantage. The school offers a broad range of facilities including a library, sports hall, gymnasium, ICT suite, art studios, a sensory room and a chapel. Sports on offer include athletics, dance, cross country, swimming, football, cricket and tennis, while clubs include coding, eco club, chess and choir. The school has identified SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is Ashfield Infant & Nursery School, just 0.2 km away, which may be a consideration for families with younger children. This school will suit families who value a broad curriculum and strong pastoral care, but who are aware that academic outcomes currently require improvement and that the school is working through a period of transition.

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