St Peter's Church of England Primary School

St Peter’s Church of England Primary School is a welcoming, happy and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, valued and well cared for. The September 2024 graded inspection found the school performing well across all key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. No overall effectiveness grade was given under the current framework. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remains a voluntary controlled Church of England school within the Diocese of Rochester. Safeguarding is effective. Pupils behave well, work hard and benefit from an ambitious, broad curriculum. Reading and phonics are particular strengths, with children learning to read quickly from Reception and staff identifying and supporting those who fall behind. Mathematics and modern foreign languages have been revised successfully, and pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported to access the curriculum. Personal development is well developed through clubs, trips, residentials and pupil responsibilities, and parents are very positive about the school’s friendly and inclusive approach. There are two main areas for improvement. Some older pupils in key stage 2 still lack secure transcription skills, which affects their spelling and handwriting; recent changes are beginning to help, but the school should evaluate their impact and ensure all pupils can write clearly and well. In addition, a few subjects are still awaiting curriculum revision, so teaching sequences sometimes lack clarity and do not build well enough on prior knowledge, meaning pupils do not retain knowledge as effectively as in most subjects. The school should continue to review and refine these curriculums.

Strengths

• Welcoming, happy school where pupils feel safe and valued
• Pupils behave well, work hard and respect others
• Ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum
• Strong phonics and early reading provision
• Mathematics and modern foreign languages revised successfully
• Pupils with SEND identified quickly and supported well
• Well-developed personal development with clubs, trips and responsibilities
• Clear behaviour policy applied consistently
• Good attendance monitored and supported
• Staff value training and feel workload is considered
• Governors have information to hold leaders to account
• Parents describe the school as friendly and inclusive
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Some key stage 2 pupils lack secure transcription skills, affecting spelling and handwriting
• School should fully evaluate the impact of recent writing changes as they embed
• A few subjects are awaiting curriculum revision
• In unreformed subjects, teaching sequences sometimes lack clarity and do not build well enough on prior knowledge
• Pupils retain knowledge less effectively in subjects awaiting curriculum revision

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 St Peter's Church of England Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.5% 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, 0.5% of pupils at St Peter's Church of England 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 St Peter's Church of England Primary School had 20.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 3.8% 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, 9.1% of pupils at St Peter's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 St Peter's Church of England Primary School received £6,113 and spent £6,024 for each of its 209 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £85,000 (£408 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 Aylesford · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is St Peter's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Peter's Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was St Peter's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Peter's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does St Peter's Church of England Primary School have?

St Peter's Church of England Primary School has 209 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Peter's Church of England Primary School cover?

St Peter's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Peter's Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Peter's Church of England Primary School?

St Peter's Church of England Primary School is at Mount Pleasant, Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7BE.