Birchington Church of England Primary School

Birchington Church of England Primary School is a happy, welcoming and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, behave especially well and achieve well. Inspectors found strong, warm relationships, effective teaching and a well-planned curriculum from Reception onwards, with a particularly strong culture of reading and phonics. Pupils understand the school’s values and benefit from a range of clubs, visits and leadership opportunities. Safeguarding is effective. Leadership is a notable strength: leaders have a sharp understanding of priorities, governance is effective and staff well-being is taken seriously. The school has maintained momentum despite changes in leadership, including a new headteacher in post full-time since January 2025. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. The main areas for improvement are the consistency of adaptation for pupils with SEND and the attendance of the most vulnerable pupils. In some lessons, activities are not sharply connected enough to the intended learning, and learning is not always adapted well enough for pupils with SEND to access tasks readily. Strategies to improve attendance for the most vulnerable pupils have not yet had the impact needed.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and know staff will listen to concerns.
• Strong, warm relationships are evident across the school.
• Pupils achieve well and meet the high expectations modelled by staff.
• Pupils conduct themselves especially well in lessons and around school.
• The school has an inclusive ethos where uniqueness is celebrated.
• The well-planned curriculum builds effective foundations from Reception.
• Teaching is effective and staff subject knowledge is generally strong.
• Teachers make careful checks on pupils’ understanding.
• There is a strong culture of reading for pleasure across the school.
• Phonics is delivered very effectively, with good support for struggling readers.
• The school has high ambitions for pupils with SEND and identifies needs quickly.
• Additional adults supporting SEND are well trained and knowledgeable.
• Clear routines in Reception support behaviour and learning.
• Clubs, visits and leadership opportunities enrich pupils’ experiences.
• Leaders have a sharp understanding of priorities and a unified purpose.
• Governors hold leaders to account effectively.
• Staff well-being is central to leaders’ concerns.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Learning is not consistently adapted to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.
• Some pupils with SEND cannot readily access learning or complete tasks effectively.
• Some lesson activities are not sharply connected to the intended learning.
• Strategies to improve attendance of the most vulnerable pupils are not effective enough.
• Some vulnerable pupils miss considerable parts of their education.

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 Birchington Church of England Primary School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.0% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Birchington 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 Birchington Church of England Primary School had 22.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 13.7% of pupils at Birchington Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Birchington Church of England Primary School received £6,879 and spent £6,868 for each of its 422 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £306,000 (£725 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 Thanet · Kent local authority: places and applications

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

The latest Ofsted rating for Birchington Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Birchington Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Birchington Church of England Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Birchington Church of England Primary School have?

Birchington Church of England Primary School has 422 pupils on roll.

What age range does Birchington Church of England Primary School cover?

Birchington Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

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

In 2025, 49% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Birchington Church of England Primary School?

Birchington Church of England Primary School is at Park Lane, Birchington, Kent, CT7 0AS.