Kender Primary School

Kender Primary School is a happy, nurturing community primary where pupils are well cared for and behave impeccably. Inspectors found a strong reading culture, a broad curriculum, and effective support for pupils with SEND. Personal development is a standout feature, with pupils taking part in enriching visits, artistic projects, community work, and age-appropriate learning about safety and consent. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and leaders and governors are ambitious and supportive of staff workload and well-being. The main area for improvement is the consistency of checking what pupils know and remember in some subjects, particularly those at early stages of implementation. This means some pupils develop gaps in knowledge and skills and struggle to recall important content. Attendance is a high priority and leaders are taking appropriate action, but term-time holidays remain a barrier for some families. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Under current inspection arrangements, no overall effectiveness grade is given.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a happy, nurturing environment with caring relationships
• Behaviour is impeccable across the school
• Values of resilience, readiness, and respect are firmly embedded
• Pupils, including those with SEND, work hard and achieve well
• Reading is at the heart of the curriculum and pupils develop a love of reading
• Early reading is taught consistently and books are well matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge
• The curriculum is broad and clearly identifies key content and sequence
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and teaching is adapted well
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and explain new learning clearly
• Personal development provision is exemplary, with rich visits, arts, and careers experiences
• Pupils learn about consent, online safety, and managing risks beyond school
• Governors and leaders are ambitious and have appropriate checks in place
• Staff value how workload and well-being are managed
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, checking of what pupils know and remember is variable, leaving gaps in knowledge and skills
• Some pupils do not learn the intended curriculum as well as they could because recall and knowledge checks are not sharp enough
• Term-time holidays are impacting attendance and learning, although leaders are taking action

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Kender Primary School attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.4% of pupils at Kender Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Kender Primary School had 18.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 16.5% of pupils at Kender Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Kender Primary School received £9,368 and spent £9,590 for each of its 338 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £279,000 (-£826 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Kender Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kender Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Kender Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Kender Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Kender Primary School have?

Kender Primary School has 351 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kender Primary School cover?

Kender Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Kender Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Kender Primary School?

Kender Primary School is at Kender Street, New Cross, London, SE14 5JA.