Lovelace Primary School

Lovelace Primary School is performing well across the areas inspected. Pupils are happy and feel valued, behaviour is generally good, and early years children behave extremely well. The school has a new headteacher who took up post in September 2024, and the newly established leadership team has already taken effective action. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. There are notable strengths. Reading is prioritised, with consistent phonics teaching and early support for pupils who struggle. Vocabulary development is a clear focus from the early years. The curriculum has been strengthened and is logically sequenced in many subjects. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified swiftly and teaching is adapted effectively. Personal development is well considered, safeguarding is effective, and governors have an accurate understanding of the school. There are also areas to improve. Provisional 2024 outcomes for pupils at the end of Year 6 were below national averages. In some subjects, the new curriculum is not yet securely embedded, leading to inconsistent delivery, and checks on what pupils know and remember are sometimes not timely enough, leaving gaps. Some pupils are not as motivated to learn as they could be because expectations for behaviour are not consistently high enough.

Strengths

• Reading is prioritised with consistent phonics teaching and early support.
• Vocabulary development is a clear focus from the early years.
• The curriculum has been strengthened with logical sequencing in many subjects.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and teaching is adapted effectively.
• Personal development provision is well considered and prepares pupils for modern society.
• Early years children behave extremely well and respond to high expectations.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Governors have an accurate understanding and effective checking processes.
• Staff value training and workload-positive changes to the marking policy.
• Pupils have opportunities for responsibility and community participation.

Areas for Improvement

• Provisional 2024 Year 6 outcomes were below national averages.
• In some subjects, the new curriculum is not securely embedded and delivery is inconsistent.
• Checking of what pupils know and remember is sometimes not timely, leaving gaps in learning.
• Some pupils are not as motivated to learn because behaviour expectations are not consistently high enough.
• The behaviour policy is not implemented consistently across the school.

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 Lovelace Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.6% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Lovelace 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 Lovelace Primary School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 51.4% 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, 14.2% of pupils at Lovelace Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.1% 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 Lovelace Primary School received £7,593 and spent £7,551 for each of its 527 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £138,000 (£262 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Kingston Upon Thames · Kingston upon Thames local authority: places and applications

What is Lovelace Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Lovelace Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lovelace Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Lovelace Primary School have?

Lovelace Primary School has 530 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lovelace Primary School cover?

Lovelace Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lovelace Primary School?

Lovelace Primary School is at Mansfield Road, Hook, Chessington, Surrey, KT9 2RN.