The FMS Inspection Score is FindMySchool's proprietary analysis based on official Ofsted and ISI inspection reports. It converts ratings into a standardised 1–10 scale for fair comparison across all schools in England.
Disclaimer: The FMS Inspection Score is an independent analysis by FindMySchool. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with Ofsted or ISI. Always refer to the official Ofsted or ISI report for the full picture of a school’s inspection outcome.
A single-form entry primary with a clear ambition to be a strong local choice, Hannah Ball Academy sits on the familiar footprint of the former Hannah Ball School and is now part of The Park Federation Academy Trust. The leadership team is headed by Principal Mrs Lorraine Machingauta, and the school presents itself as inclusive, diverse, and community-facing, with practical routines that suit working families, including breakfast club and after-school clubs on site.
Academic data published by the school for the 2024/25 year paints a mixed but encouraging picture: early language and reading foundations look strong, and the end of Year 6 combined measure is above the national figure shown on the school’s page. That combination suggests the school is getting many pupils over the expected standard line, even if not every subject shows the same pattern at greater depth.
Admission is competitive. In the most recent Reception entry-route data here, 40 applications competed for 22 offers, which is about 1.82 applications per place. That is enough demand to make outcomes feel uncertain for families who are relying on a place.
The school’s self-description leans heavily into belonging and aspiration, and it repeatedly frames its work around preparing children for their next steps with confidence, skills, and ambition. That is reflected in a practical, modern set of personal development signposts rather than heritage language. Programmes highlighted on the website include Jigsaw PSHE and Votes for Schools, which usually indicates an emphasis on structured wellbeing teaching and age-appropriate discussion of current affairs and decision-making.
Safeguarding information is presented in a straightforward, procedural way, with an emphasis on listening to pupils, staff training, and multi-agency working where needed. The school names designated safeguarding roles and points parents towards the academy’s safeguarding documents, which is useful for families who want to understand the culture of reporting and follow-up.
As an academy that opened on 01 February 2024, it is also in a transitional phase in the way many converting schools are, with policies, systems, and reporting increasingly presented through the trust structure. For parents, that often shows up in a more standardised approach to behaviour routines, attendance expectations, and curriculum documentation across the trust family.
Leadership visibility is a notable strength of the website. The principal is named consistently across pages, and the “Who’s who” listing is unusually specific for a small primary, which helps parents understand who holds responsibility for key areas like SEND and day-to-day operations.
FindMySchool performance and ranking fields for this school are not currently available so this section relies on the school’s published results where they are clearly labelled and dated.
For the academic year 2024/25, the school’s published data shows:
Early Years Foundation Stage Good Level of Development at 65%, alongside a national average on the same page of 67.7%.
Year 1 phonics at 91%, alongside a national average shown as 82%.
End of Key Stage 2 results showing expected standard attainment above the national figures presented for reading, writing, maths, and grammar, punctuation and spelling, plus a combined measure (reading, writing and maths) of 78% compared with 62% nationally on the same page.
The combined end of Year 6 measure is often the number parents latch onto, because it is the cleanest summary of whether children are leaving with broadly secure literacy and numeracy. A 78% combined figure on the school’s published table suggests that, for many children, outcomes are leaving-primary ready.
It is also worth reading the greater depth data carefully. On the same 2024/25 table, reading greater depth is shown at 26% against a national 29%, while writing (19% vs 13%) and maths (41% vs 25%) are stronger. That pattern can indicate that the top end is doing particularly well in maths, and that writing progress is a relative strength, while reading stretch may be more uneven for the highest attainers.
A practical implication for parents is that support needs may vary by child profile. Confident readers who need high-end stretch may want to ask how the school is extending comprehension and breadth of reading, while children who need a stronger phonics base appear well served by the 2024/25 phonics figure.
Curriculum signals on the website point to a structured, literacy-forward approach. Talk for Writing is explicitly listed as a curriculum area, which typically means writing is taught through carefully sequenced models, oral rehearsal, and incremental independence, an approach that can help children who need clear scaffolding and routines.
Personal development is treated as part of the taught programme rather than an add-on. Jigsaw PSHE and Votes for Schools are both named, which suggests pupils are expected to develop vocabulary for emotions, relationships, and respectful discussion. That can be especially valuable in a mixed, diverse intake, where a shared language for behaviour and disagreement matters.
For families with children who benefit from predictability, this blend of structured literacy and codified PSHE often works well. For children who thrive on open-ended project learning, it is worth asking how often learning is inquiry-based, and how the school balances direct instruction with exploration in foundation subjects.
Quality of Education
Requires Improvement
Behaviour & Attitudes
Good
Personal Development
Good
Leadership & Management
Requires Improvement
FMS Inspection Score calculated by FindMySchool based on official inspection data.
As a primary school, the key transition question is Year 6 into Year 7. The school’s admissions and information pages focus mainly on entry to Reception and in-year movement, rather than naming destination secondaries, so families should expect to do some local homework across Buckinghamshire options, including any nearest non-selective schools and the selective pathway where relevant in the county.
What the school can do well, regardless of destination, is prepare pupils with secure reading, writing, and maths foundations, and a practical independence in routines. The published end of Key Stage 2 outcomes for 2024/25 suggest many pupils are leaving with that baseline in place.
A useful shortlisting step is to use FindMySchool’s Local Hub comparison tools to view likely destination secondaries side-by-side, then work backwards to decide what preparation and pastoral style you want from a primary.
Reception admissions are coordinated through Buckinghamshire Council rather than direct application to the school. For September 2026 entry, the academy’s admissions page lists:
Online applications open on Wednesday 05 November 2025
Deadline on Thursday 15 January 2026 (11:59pm)
Deadline for address evidence on Monday 26 January 2026
Offer day on Wednesday 15 April 2026
The school also states planned admission numbers of 30 per year group, which aligns with a single-form entry structure.
Demand looks meaningful based on the supplied admissions results for the Reception entry route: 40 applications and 22 offers, plus an oversubscribed status and an application-to-offer ratio of 1.82. In plain terms, more families apply than there are places available through that route, so the criteria and priority order matter.
100%
1st preference success rate
16 of 16 first-choice applicants received an offer
Places
22
Offers
22
Applications
40
The school’s wellbeing offer is presented through taught PSHE, safeguarding processes, and clearly identified staff responsibilities. On safeguarding, the academy sets expectations around listening to pupils, staff training, and escalation routes when concerns arise. That matters for families who want reassurance that worries are heard and acted on, particularly for younger children who may struggle to articulate problems clearly.
For day-to-day wellbeing, the presence of Jigsaw PSHE as an explicit strand is a positive sign, because it usually indicates planned coverage of friendship, resilience, and handling conflict, rather than leaving those topics purely to reactive conversations.
SEND leadership is named on the staff listing, which is useful for parents who need clarity on who leads support planning and communication, especially during Reception entry and the early adjustment period.
Wraparound and clubs are one of the practical differentiators for a small primary.
The published school day includes breakfast club from 8:00 to 8:45, and after-school clubs from 3:20 to 4:20. This is helpful for families who need a predictable workday bridge, even if it does not replace a full childcare solution until early evening.
Enrichment appears to be developing. A school document from December 2024 highlights planned clubs including Art Club, Homework Club, Croquet Club, Public Speaking, and Year 6 tuition-style support clubs, alongside sporting and music activities. For parents, the implication is that enrichment is being shaped around both confidence-building (public speaking), creativity (art), and pragmatic support (homework and Year 6 support), rather than only traditional sports rotation.
The personal development pages also point to structured participation beyond lessons, for example Modeshift STARS, which often links to active travel and sustainable travel behaviours.
The school day is published clearly: Reception runs 8:45 to 3:15, and Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 run 8:45 to 3:20. Parents are asked to bring pupils in for 8:40 arrival.
Breakfast club operates 8:00 to 8:45, and after-school clubs are listed 3:20 to 4:20. If you need childcare later than 4:20, it is sensible to ask what provision exists beyond clubs, because clubs and wraparound care are not always the same thing in staffing, booking, and consistency.
Term dates are published on the school’s site via downloadable documents, which is useful for planning annual childcare and travel, even if you still need to confirm inset day patterns each year.
Transport and routes are not set out in detail on the pages reviewed here, so parents should check walking routes, parking constraints, and any local drop-off guidance directly with the school and council documentation.
Inspection status transition. The latest published graded inspection relates to the predecessor school, Hannah Ball School, which was judged Requires Improvement on 23 November 2021, with Good judgements for behaviour and personal development but Requires Improvement for quality of education and leadership and management.
No published Ofsted report yet for the academy entity. The Ofsted listing for Hannah Ball Academy (URN 150283) currently shows no published inspection report.
Oversubscription reality. With an oversubscribed status and an applications-to-offers ratio above 1 in the supplied admissions data, families should plan for alternatives and treat a place as competitive rather than assumed.
Wraparound needs may exceed clubs. Breakfast club and after-school clubs are listed, but families needing care later into the evening should check the availability and consistency of provision beyond 4:20.
Hannah Ball Academy looks like a small, practical primary that is building a clear structure around literacy, personal development, and family-friendly routines. The school’s published 2024/25 outcomes suggest many pupils are leaving Year 6 with secure foundations, and the enrichment offer is becoming more intentionally rounded, with options that support confidence as well as sport and arts.
Who it suits: families in High Wycombe who want a single-form primary with clear routines, early reading strength, and accessible wraparound timings, and who are comfortable with the reality that entry can be competitive.
The most recent published outcomes on the school’s site for 2024/25 show strengths in phonics and end of Year 6 attainment, including a combined reading, writing and maths figure shown above the national figure on the same table. The academy’s own Ofsted report is not yet published, so parents should use school visits, conversations about curriculum, and day-to-day routines to judge fit.
Reception admissions are coordinated by Buckinghamshire Council, and allocation follows the published admissions criteria.
The school lists Thursday 15 January 2026 (11:59pm) as the application deadline for starting primary school in September 2026, via the Buckinghamshire Council online application route.
Yes. The school publishes breakfast club from 8:00 to 8:45 and after-school clubs from 3:20 to 4:20. Families needing longer childcare should confirm whether provision beyond clubs is available.
In the supplied admissions results for the Reception entry route, the school is marked oversubscribed with 40 applications and 22 offers, which is about 1.82 applications per place. This suggests competition for places and the need for a realistic back-up plan.
Get in touch with the school directly
Disclaimer
Information on this page is compiled, analysed, and processed from publicly available sources including the Department for Education (DfE), Ofsted, the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, and official school websites.
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