Westlands Primary School

Westlands Primary School is performing well overall. Pupils enjoy attending, feel safe and benefit from strong pastoral care. Reading is a clear priority, with effective phonics teaching and quick support for those at risk of falling behind. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported excellently, including those with complex needs. Early years provision is particularly strong: children settle quickly, routines are clear, and adults skilfully develop language and learning through everyday interactions. Personal development is also strong, with pupils taking on responsibilities, accessing clubs and developing life skills through outdoor learning, cooking, library visits and bike riding. Leadership and behaviour are generally effective. The school has recently revised its behaviour policy, and most pupils behave well; staff deal with low-level disruption quickly and feel supported. Attendance is improving because leaders prioritise it. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and staff are proud to work at the school, feeling well supported by leaders and the trust. However, there are two main areas for improvement. In a small number of subjects, the revised curriculum is not yet fully embedded across all year groups, so pupils do not always build a secure body of subject knowledge over time. Also, a small number of pupils do not meet the school's high behaviour expectations and can act inappropriately towards staff or be unkind to peers, meaning the atmosphere around the school is not always as calm and purposeful as it should be. The school has been asked to implement the behaviour policy more robustly and ensure curriculum intent is fully realised in every subject. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is part of Swale Academies Trust; under current arrangements, no overall effectiveness grade was given.

Strengths

• Early years provision is particularly strong, with children settling quickly and benefiting from clear routines and skilful adult support.
• Reading is prioritised effectively, including well-taught phonics and prompt support for pupils at risk of falling behind.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and engaging, with carefully sequenced knowledge and vocabulary from the early years.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive excellent support, including personalised provision for complex needs.
• Pupils feel safe and know who to talk to if they are worried.
• Staff manage low-level disruption quickly, and most pupils behave well.
• Attendance is improving because leaders make it a high priority and work hard to address absences.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of responsibilities, clubs, lunchtime activities and excellent pastoral care for vulnerable pupils.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and feel well supported by leaders and the trust.

Areas for Improvement

• The revised curriculum is not fully embedded in a small number of subjects, so pupils do not consistently build secure subject knowledge over time.
• A small number of pupils do not meet the school's high behaviour expectations and can act inappropriately towards staff or be unkind to peers.
• The atmosphere around the school site is not always as calm and purposeful as it should be because of some pupils' behaviour.
• The school needs to implement its behaviour policy more robustly and systematically so all pupils fully understand and follow expectations.
• The school must ensure curricular intent is fully implemented in all subjects so pupils learn subject content consistently well.

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 Westlands Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.4% 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, 2.4% of pupils at Westlands 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 Westlands Primary School had 21.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.9% 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, 17.1% of pupils at Westlands Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.1% 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 2024–25 Westlands Primary School received £8,335 and spent £6,842 for each of its 491 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £200,000 (£407 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of Swale Academies Trust, income was £8,268 and spending £8,248 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Sittingbourne · Kent local authority: places and applications

Westlands Primary School is part of Swale Academies Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Westlands School Sittingbourne
• Regis Manor Primary School Sittingbourne
• The Sittingbourne School Sittingbourne
• South Borough Primary School Maidstone
• The Holmesdale School Snodland
• The Whitstable School Whitstable
• Beaver Green Primary School Ashford
• The North School Ashford
• Meopham School Gravesend
• Istead Rise Primary School Gravesend

What is Westlands Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Westlands Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Westlands Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Westlands Primary School have?

Westlands Primary School has 469 pupils on roll.

What age range does Westlands Primary School cover?

Westlands Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Westlands Primary School?

Westlands Primary School is at Homewood Avenue, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 1XN.