Castle Hill Infant School
Castle Hill Infant School is a sponsored academy in Ipswich for boys and girls aged 3 to 7. It has 251 pupils and room for 270. About 22 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools.
Dryden Road, Ipswich, IP1 6QD01473 741758castlehillprimary.org.ukMrs Jennifer Smith headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
50 places were empty (19% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 6% since 2021/22.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Suffolk council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. SEN unit with 24 pupils, for autism, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Suffolk with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (40), Autistic spectrum disorder (29), emotional and mental health (10), Moderate learning difficulty (5), Hearing impairment (1), Vision impairment (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 251 | 220 | 214 | 217 | 208 | 205 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 22% | 24% | 28% | 25% | 28% | 24% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 16% | 16% | 17% | 16% | 13% | 13% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 11% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 15% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 16% | 14% | 12% | 9% | 4% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 6.3% | 6.2% | 6.6% | 7.1% | 4.5% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.1% | 4.8% | 5.1% | 6.1% | 3.6% | 3.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.2% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 16.9% | 19.0% | 20.1% | 23.7% | 12.8% | 7.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 8.6 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Hill Junior School | Academy | 0 m | 288 | Good 2024 | 20 | Compare |
| Dale Hall Community Primary School | Academy | 640 m | 412 | Good 2019 | 33 | Compare |
| St Pancras Catholic Primary School | Academy | 660 m | 153 | Good 2023 | 48 | Compare |
| The Beeches Community Primary School | Academy | 830 m | 393 | Good 2023 | 16 | Compare |
| Whitehouse Community Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 551 | Not inspected | 27 | Compare |
| Springfield Junior School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 354 | No overall grade 2025 | 20 | Compare |
| Springfield Infant School and Nursery | Academy | 1.1 miles | 287 | Report card 2026 | 22 | Compare |
| Handford Hall Primary School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 360 | Good 2023 | 62 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Castle Hill Infant School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Castle Hill Infant School yet.
How many pupils does Castle Hill Infant School have?
251 pupils aged 3 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 93% full.
Is Castle Hill Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 50 places were empty in 2024/25 (19% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Castle Hill Infant School?
Pupils were in school 93.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 17% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Castle Hill Infant School?
The average class had 22.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Castle Hill Infant School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has sen unit for autism, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Castle Hill Infant School have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Dryden Road, Ipswich, IP1 6QD
- Telephone
- 01473 741758
- Website
- www.castlehillprimary.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jennifer Smith
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Asset Education (16 schools)
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Ward
- Whitton
- Constituency
- Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2014 (new provision)
- URN
- 141372 · LAESTAB 9352048 · UKPRN 10047499
- Formerly
- Castle Hill Infant School
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.