Crockenhill Primary School

Crockenhill Primary School is a good school in its quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision, although leadership and management requires improvement. Pupils learn and achieve well, children get off to a strong start in the early years, and pupils generally show positive attitudes to learning. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from well-planned support, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has a curriculum well matched to pupils' needs, effective teaching and strong early reading support. Pupils' good behaviour helps create a positive climate for learning, and suspensions have reduced sharply. Attendance has improved significantly this academic year, and pupils are well prepared for life beyond school through personal development opportunities, trips, charitable activities and learning about different faiths and backgrounds. However, some tasks and resources in a few subjects are not aligned closely enough with the curriculum, which limits how deeply some pupils develop their knowledge. The school also lacks a systematic strategy for tackling lower attendance and punctuality among some disadvantaged pupils. Governance is not yet strong enough: governors do not have the required understanding of their role or robust systems for overseeing statutory responsibilities and holding leaders to account. Leaders' oversight and analysis in curriculum, attendance and behaviour are also not as secure as they should be. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Strengths

• Pupils learn and achieve well across the school.
• Children in the early years get off to a strong start.
• The curriculum is well matched to pupils' needs at each stage.
• Teaching is effective, with teachers modelling and explaining new ideas clearly.
• Early reading support helps weaker readers catch up well.
• Pupils with SEND benefit from well-planned support.
• Pupils behave well and suspensions have reduced sharply.
• Attendance has significantly improved this academic year.
• Personal development prepares pupils well for life beyond school.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, tasks and resources are not aligned with the intended curriculum, limiting depth of understanding.
• There is no systematic strategy for improving attendance and punctuality for disadvantaged pupils and other key groups.
• The governing body lacks understanding of its role and statutory duties.
• Governors are not robustly holding leaders to account or overseeing resources and school vision.
• Leaders' oversight and analysis in curriculum, attendance and behaviour are not secure enough.

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 Crockenhill Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.0% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Crockenhill 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 Crockenhill Primary School had 17.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.1% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Crockenhill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.0% 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 Crockenhill Primary School received £7,107 and spent £7,273 for each of its 203 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £123,000 (£604 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 Sevenoaks · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is Crockenhill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Crockenhill Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Crockenhill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Crockenhill Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Crockenhill Primary School have?

Crockenhill Primary School has 203 pupils on roll.

What age range does Crockenhill Primary School cover?

Crockenhill Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 41% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Crockenhill Primary School?

Crockenhill Primary School is at The Green, Crockenhill, Kent, BR8 8JG.