White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School

White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across various domains, with an 'Outstanding' rating in early years provision. The school nurtures a supportive environment where pupils are encouraged to express their aspirations and develop resilience, leading to positive attitudes towards learning. The curriculum is ambitious and well-designed, enabling pupils to engage meaningfully in their education and enjoy a variety of enriching experiences. The leadership is strong, with effective governance from the trust, ensuring accountability and consistent support for both staff and students. However, there are some areas for improvement identified, particularly in the effectiveness of assessment in wider curriculum subjects, which hinders the identification of knowledge gaps for some pupils.

Strengths

• Strong leadership and management with effective governance.
• Pupils demonstrate high aspirations and resilience.
• Engaging and well-designed curriculum with exciting activities.
• Outstanding early years provision setting a strong foundation.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• A culture of reading is actively promoted and celebrated.
• Positive behavior and attitudes among pupils.
• Opportunities for personal development through diverse enrichment activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Ineffective assessment in wider curriculum subjects leading to undetected knowledge gaps.

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 White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.8% 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, 1.0% of pupils at White Cliffs Primary and Nursery 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 White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.7% 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, 16.6% of pupils at White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School received £8,508 and spent £9,161 for each of its 271 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £442,000 (£1,631 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Samphire Star Education Trust, income was £8,517 and spending £9,007 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 Dover · Kent local authority: places and applications

White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School is part of Samphire Star Education Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Astor Secondary School Dover
• Shatterlocks Infant and Nursery School Dover
• Barton Junior School Dover

What is White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School is Good, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School have?

White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School has 277 pupils on roll.

What age range does White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School cover?

White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School?

White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School is at St Radigund's Road, Dover, Kent, CT17 0LB.