Howbridge Church of England Junior School

About Howbridge Church of England Junior School

Howbridge Church of England Junior School’s headline KS2 results sit noticeably below the Essex local authority average for primary schools. While the LA average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined sits at 62 per cent, Howbridge’s figure is 39 per cent. That gap of 23 percentage points is significant and places the school in the bottom half of Braintree’s 46 primaries, ranked 40th. The school’s national percentile of 92 per cent means it falls among the lower-performing schools in the country on this measure. However, the picture is not uniformly low. Reading and maths average scores are 101 and 100 respectively, which are close to the national baseline of 100, and 56 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading. The school’s capacity is 384, with 357 pupils on roll, and 23.2 per cent of children are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average and may partly contextualise the results.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in November 2023 rated it Good across all five categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in December 2019, when the school was rated Requires Improvement overall, with leadership and management and quality of education both graded as Requires Improvement. The turnaround in just under four years is notable. At KS2, 51 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in maths and 50 per cent in writing, while 11 per cent achieved the higher standard in maths and 10 per cent in reading. No pupils reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is difficult to assess how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points, but the Ofsted upgrade suggests stronger leadership under headteacher Lucie Levett.

Howbridge is a Church of England junior school for ages 7 to 11, and its facilities include a forest school, sensory room, chapel, music rooms, and playing fields. Sports on offer include football, tennis, athletics, rounders and dance, while clubs range from drama and choir to gardening, film club and chess. The school’s SEND provision covers moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Chipping Hill Primary School, just 0.7 kilometres away, which may be a consideration for families prioritising top Ofsted grades. Howbridge is oversubscribed relative to its capacity, but the data does not indicate how many applications it receives. This school will suit families who value the recent Ofsted improvement, a broad range of clubs and outdoor learning, and a setting with a clear Christian character, while being realistic about the below-average KS2 outcomes.

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