Joydens Wood Junior School

Joydens Wood Junior School is a happy and safe school where pupils behave well, understand the school values and take pride in leadership roles. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are strengths, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leaders have worked closely with the Nexus Education Schools Trust to make swift curriculum changes, and reading is a particular priority, with consistent phonics teaching and targeted support helping pupils enjoy reading and understand vocabulary. The quality of education still requires improvement. Although the new curriculum is broad and better adapted for pupils with SEND, some subject developments are still in their infancy and have not yet had time to close gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Published outcomes reflect those gaps, and assessment in some foundation subjects is not used precisely enough to identify misconceptions and inform teaching. Writing is a significant area for development. Handwriting and letter formation are not taught consistently, which hinders fluency across the curriculum, and tasks in foundation subjects do not always enable pupils to demonstrate the depth of their subject knowledge in written work. The school has introduced more careful progress checks and is working with the trust to address these issues.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and enjoy learning.
• School values are central to school life and pupils demonstrate them well.
• Behaviour across the school is positive and pupils focus on learning.
• Pupils take pride in leadership roles and contribute to the school community.
• The curriculum is broad and supports adaptation for pupils with SEND.
• Reading is a high priority, with consistent phonics teaching and targeted support.
• Staff have secure subject knowledge and explain concepts well.
• Attendance is carefully tracked and families receive effective support.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Leaders work closely with the trust to bring about swift improvements.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum developments in some subjects are still in their infancy.
• Some pupils have gaps in learning, reflected in published outcomes.
• Writing is not taught consistently across the school.
• Pupils are not developing cursive handwriting and some do not form letters correctly.
• Assessment in some foundation subjects is not precise enough to identify misconceptions and gaps.
• Tasks in foundation subjects do not fully enable pupils to meet curriculum aims.
• Pupils’ written work in foundation subjects is not as strong as it should 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 Joydens Wood Junior School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.2% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Joydens Wood Junior 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 Joydens Wood Junior School had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 47.2% 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, 21.3% of pupils at Joydens Wood Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 2024–25 Joydens Wood Junior School received £5,940 and spent £6,028 for each of its 324 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £212,000 (£654 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of Nexus Education Schools Trust, income was £8,837 and spending £8,693 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 Dartford · Kent local authority: places and applications

Joydens Wood Junior School is part of Nexus Education Schools Trust, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Joydens Wood Infant School Bexley
• Manor Oak Primary School Orpington
• Perry Hall Primary School Orpington
• Marjorie McClure School Chislehurst
• Farnborough Primary School Orpington
• Bickley Primary School Bromley
• Highfield Infants' School Bromley
• Highfield Junior School Bromley
• Pickhurst Infant Academy West Wickham
• Worsley Bridge Primary School Beckenham

What is Joydens Wood Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Joydens Wood Junior School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Joydens Wood Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Joydens Wood Junior School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Joydens Wood Junior School have?

Joydens Wood Junior School has 315 pupils on roll.

What age range does Joydens Wood Junior School cover?

Joydens Wood Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Joydens Wood Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Joydens Wood Junior School?

Joydens Wood Junior School is at Birchwood Drive, Wilmington, Dartford, Kent, DA2 7NE.