Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School

Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School is a happy, caring and high-performing primary school. Pupils enjoy school, behave exceptionally well and benefit from strong relationships across year groups. The quality of education is good, while behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision are all outstanding. Leaders are highly effective, governors are diligent, and staff are well supported, including with workload. The school provides an ambitious curriculum and a wide range of enriching opportunities, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified and supported well. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is that in some subjects, such as science and history, pupils do not always get enough time to complete activities in depth. As a result, some knowledge remains fragile and pupils can struggle to retain what they have learned. The school needs to ensure all teachers follow the curriculum structure and sequencing so pupils can embed their learning securely. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has not been inspected under section 5 since 2015. The school is part of the CARE Foundation Trust, a collaborative group of nine primary schools with no governance or leadership responsibility for this school.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and form very positive relationships across the school.
• Behaviour and attitudes are exceptional, with pupils attentive, courteous and respectful.
• Personal development is outstanding, with extensive trips, visitors and wider opportunities.
• Leadership and management are outstanding, with highly effective leaders and diligent governors.
• Early years provision is outstanding, and children achieve exceptionally well.
• The curriculum is ambitious and engaging, supported by the school's 'head, heart and hand' model.
• Pupils develop reading and mathematical knowledge well, and those who fall behind are supported to catch up swiftly.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported to learn confidently alongside their peers.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Pupils have a clear voice in the school, including through elected subject champions.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, such as science and history, pupils do not always have the opportunity to complete activities in sufficient depth.
• Knowledge can be too fragile, and some pupils struggle to retain what they have learned when teaching moves on too quickly.
• The school needs to ensure all teachers follow the curriculum structure and sequencing so pupils can embed their learning.

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 Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.2% 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 Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed 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 Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School had 24.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.0% 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, 13.8% of pupils at Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% 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 Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School received £6,558 and spent £6,396 for each of its 429 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £195,000 (£454 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 Ashford · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School have?

Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School has 429 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School cover?

Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 81% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School?

Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School is at Bridge Street, Wye, Ashford, Kent, TN25 5EA.