Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

Folkestone St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy is a friendly, inclusive church school where pupils feel safe, welcomed and part of a harmonious community. Safeguarding standards are met. Leadership and governance, inclusion, personal development and well-being, and early years are all meeting expectations. Children get a calm and purposeful start in the Nursery and generally achieve well by the end of Reception, though writing and some adult-child interactions need further development. Leaders are committed and staff morale is positive, with governors providing appropriate support and challenge and parents speaking highly of the school. However, achievement, attendance and behaviour, and curriculum and teaching require attention. Pupils do not consistently remember key knowledge across subjects, and the quality of their work varies too much between classes and subjects. Assessment is not used well enough to build on prior learning, and some pupils do not secure foundational knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics. Attendance is a significant concern, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, and persistent absence has been too high, although new leaders have acted promptly and attendance this term is stronger. Behaviour and relationships are positive. The school is a single-academy trust with a Christian character and a Nursery for two- and three-year-olds. The headteacher took post in September 2025 and two assistant headteachers have been appointed. Leaders recognise the areas needing improvement and have begun to address them, including attendance tracking, writing in early years and multiplication tables, where pupils have achieved better than national averages.

Strengths

• Calm, happy and purposeful early years provision, including a well-resourced Nursery and sensory room.
• Strong pastoral care and inclusion, with early identification of SEND and effective use of external support.
• Nurturing, inclusive culture with warm relationships and consistently high expectations for behaviour.
• Well-designed curriculum with precise knowledge and skills, and teachers who generally explain new material clearly.
• Personal development enriched by pupil leadership, international diversity work, trips and a wide extracurricular offer.
• Positive staff morale, high-quality support for teachers and consideration of workload and wellbeing.
• Leaders and governors place pupils at the heart of decisions and provide appropriate support and challenge.
• Recent improvements in attendance and multiplication tables, including stronger outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not consistently recall key knowledge across subjects, and work quality varies too much between classes and subjects.
• Assessment is not used effectively to check prior learning and help pupils build on what they already know.
• Some pupils do not secure foundational knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Phonics catch-up support is not always precise enough for pupils who begin to fall behind.
• Writing teaching does not consistently support pupils to produce work that reflects their understanding.
• Too many pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, miss school regularly, and persistent absence has been high.
• Early years staff do not always have the expertise to secure high-quality interactions that develop children's vocabulary and communication.
• The attendance strategy is not yet fully embedded and must be strengthened to raise attendance for all pupils.

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 Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.6% 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 Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy 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 Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.5% 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, 17.0% of pupils at Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% 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 Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy received £6,867 and spent £6,801 for each of its 394 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,119,000 (£2,844 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 Folkestone · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy have?

Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy has 406 pupils on roll.

What age range does Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy cover?

Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy?

Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy is at Warren Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT19 6QH.