John Ray Infant School
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John Ray Infant School is a converter academy in Braintree for boys and girls aged 2 to 7. It has 319 pupils and room for 360. About 20 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 47 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 56% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2019.
Notley Road, Braintree, CM7 1HL01376 323071johnrayinfant.compassps.ukMrs Lisa Christian headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 14 November 2019 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
This inspection is more than 6 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 52 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up.
How places were given out for September 2026. The last place was given under this rule: Criterion 4.
| Entry | Places | Applied at all | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 90 | 154 | – | LA |
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (24), Autistic spectrum disorder (14), emotional and mental health (5), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (3), Hearing impairment (1), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 319 | 335 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 20% | 22% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 13% | 10% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 16% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.7% 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 | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.9% | 6.2% | 3.0% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.7% | 4.0% | 4.7% | 5.0% | 2.1% | 3.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.5% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.9% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 15.5% | 13.4% | 17.4% | 18.0% | 6.3% | 7.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for John Ray Infant School, the school this one replaced in July 2024. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Ray Junior School | Academy | 10 m | 439 | Good 2020 | 28 | Compare |
| St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | Church of England | 1.0 miles | 387 | No overall grade 2025 | 28 | Compare |
| Notley Green Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 401 | Not inspected | 74 | Compare |
| St Francis Catholic Primary School, Braintree | Catholic | 1.1 miles | 203 | Good 2024 | 87 | Compare |
| White Court School | Council | 1.2 miles | 550 | Good 2022 | 66 | Compare |
| Beckers Green Primary School | Academy | 1.3 miles | 317 | Good 2023 | 49 | Compare |
| John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery | Council | 1.3 miles | 501 | Good 2024 | 18 | Compare |
| Great Bradfords Infant and Nursery School | Council | 1.4 miles | 269 | Good 2022 | 34 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares John Ray Infant School with the 45 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 45 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 47 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 47% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 24 to 71. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 11% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.03 | Ofsted grade, 6.8 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | -0.07 | 2024/25; 226 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is John Ray Infant School a good school?
It is about average. John Ray Infant School scores 47 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 56% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 24 to 71, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is John Ray Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated John Ray Infant School good at its last full inspection on 14 November 2019. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How many pupils does John Ray Infant School have?
319 pupils aged 2 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 360 places, so it is 89% full.
Is John Ray Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 52 places were empty in 2024/25 (14% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at John Ray Infant School?
Pupils were in school 94.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 15% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at John Ray Infant School?
The average class had 25.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Notley Road, Braintree, CM7 1HL
- Telephone
- 01376 323071
- Website
- www.johnrayinfant.compassps.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lisa Christian
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- The Compass Partnership of Schools (28 schools)
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Braintree West
- Constituency
- Braintree
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 July 2024 (academy converter)
- URN
- 150501 · LAESTAB 8812669 · UKPRN 10094329
- Formerly
- John Ray 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.
- Admissions outcomes: Essex council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- 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.