Cliffe Woods Primary School

Cliffe Woods Primary School is a happy, community-minded school where pupils thrive and behave exceptionally well. Inspectors judged behaviour and attitudes and personal development to be outstanding, while quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision were good. The school is part of the Aletheia Academies Trust, and this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic; it had not been inspected under section 5 since 2015. Under the current framework, no overall effectiveness grade was awarded. The school's strengths include a strong reading and phonics programme, a broad and engaging curriculum, very high attendance, and exceptional personal development opportunities. Pupils are kind, safe, and proud of their school, and leaders are effective, ethical, and supportive of staff. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is assessment. Information from checks is not consistently used to adapt learning activities to meet all pupils' needs, and adaptations for pupils with differing needs are not fully developed. As a result, some pupils do not build well enough on prior learning and progress less swiftly than they could.

Strengths

• Strong sense of community where pupils are kind and welcoming
• Outstanding behaviour and attitudes with high expectations from Reception
• Exceptional personal development provision with pupil leadership roles, assemblies, trips and clubs
• Highly effective phonics and early reading teaching, including support for pupils with SEND
• Broad, engaging curriculum that motivates pupils and enables revisiting of learning
• Very good attendance and highly positive attitudes to learning
• Effective leadership at all levels, with staff feeling valued and supported
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment information is not always used effectively to adjust learning activities
• Adaptations to meet pupils' differing needs are not fully developed
• Some pupils' learning does not build well enough on prior knowledge, so progress is slower than it could be

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 Cliffe Woods Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Cliffe Woods 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 Cliffe Woods Primary School had 23.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.0% 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, 7.1% of pupils at Cliffe Woods Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 2024–25 Cliffe Woods Primary School received £6,054 and spent £5,916 for each of its 422 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £415,000 (£983 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Aletheia Academies Trust, income was £5,972 and spending £6,275 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 Rochester · Medway local authority: places and applications

Cliffe Woods Primary School is part of Aletheia Academies Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Shorne Church of England Primary School Gravesend
• Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend
• Twydall Primary School and Nursery Gillingham
• Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Gravesend
• Whitehill Primary School Gravesend
• Rainham Mark Grammar School Gillingham
• Saint George's Church of England School Gravesend
• Rosherville Church of England Academy Gravesend
• Halling Primary School Rochester
• Riverside Primary School Gillingham

What is Cliffe Woods Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cliffe Woods Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Cliffe Woods Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cliffe Woods Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Cliffe Woods Primary School have?

Cliffe Woods Primary School has 421 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cliffe Woods Primary School cover?

Cliffe Woods Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cliffe Woods Primary School?

Cliffe Woods Primary School is at View Road, Cliffe Woods, ROCHESTER, Kent, ME3 8UJ.