The Oaks Primary School & Nursery

The Oaks Primary School & Nursery is a welcoming, inclusive primary school that serves its community well. Inspectors found a calm and happy school where kindness, ambition and respect are evident, pupils behave well and achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. Leadership is ambitious, safeguarding is effective, and staff benefit from strong training and collaboration across the Kemnal Academies Trust. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and, under current arrangements, it received no overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Strong inclusive ethos that welcomes all pupils and families
• High expectations for behaviour, with pupils who are polite and respectful
• Ambitious curriculum that is well sequenced in nearly all subjects
• Effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Strong mathematics teaching and effective checking of learning in some subjects
• Systematic phonics teaching from Reception with swift additional support
• Good language development in the early years
• Well-planned personal development and a wide range of experiences
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Strong staff training and supportive collaboration across the trust

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is inconsistent in some subjects, so gaps in pupils’ learning are not always identified
• In a small number of subjects, the most important knowledge is not defined precisely enough
• Teachers in those subjects are not always clear what to teach and when

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 The Oaks Primary School & Nursery attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.4% 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, 0.4% of pupils at The Oaks Primary School & Nursery 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 The Oaks Primary School & Nursery had 25.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.6% 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 The Oaks Primary School & Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.2% 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 The Oaks Primary School & Nursery received £6,009 and spent £6,099 for each of its 434 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £195,000 (£449 per pupil).

Across all 45 schools of The Kemnal Academies Trust, income was £8,501 and spending £8,452 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 Crawley · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

The Oaks Primary School & Nursery is part of The Kemnal Academies Trust, which runs 45 schools. The nearest others:

• Thomas Bennett Community College Crawley
• Hilltop Primary School Crawley
• Broadfield Primary Academy Crawley
• Seymour Primary School Crawley
• The Mill Primary Academy Crawley
• The Bewbush Academy Crawley
• Weyfield Primary Academy Guildford
• Gray's Farm Primary Academy Orpington
• Kemnal Technology College Sidcup
• Orchards Academy Swanley

What is The Oaks Primary School & Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Oaks Primary School & Nursery is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was The Oaks Primary School & Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

The Oaks Primary School & Nursery was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does The Oaks Primary School & Nursery have?

The Oaks Primary School & Nursery has 449 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Oaks Primary School & Nursery cover?

The Oaks Primary School & Nursery for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are The Oaks Primary School & Nursery's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is The Oaks Primary School & Nursery?

The Oaks Primary School & Nursery is at Loppets Road, Tilgate, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 5DP.