Kirby Primary Academy

Kirby Primary Academy has successfully maintained its standards following the last inspection, delivering a vibrant and engaging educational experience for its pupils. The school is part of the Reach 2 Academy Trust and benefits from a strong collaborative framework with support from the trust that has led to significant improvements in teaching and curriculum delivery. Pupils actively participate in a diverse range of activities, contributing to a happy and safe school environment. However, some areas still require attention, particularly in developing deeper mathematical understanding and improving consistency in grammar, punctuation, and spelling across pupils' written work.

Strengths

• Pupils engage in a broad and interesting curriculum.
• Effective adaptations to the trust curriculum relevant to local context.
• Rich variety of wider experiences through the '11 before 11' programme.
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• High levels of pupil engagement and respectful attitudes.
• Improved attendance and reduced suspensions due to new behaviour policy.
• Effective leadership and management supported by the trust.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistency in developing pupils' grammatical skills.
• Some pupils do not achieve depth in their mathematical knowledge.

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 Kirby Primary Academy attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.9% 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, 2.9% of pupils at Kirby 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 Kirby Primary Academy had 19.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.1% 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, 19.3% of pupils at Kirby Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 Kirby Primary Academy received £6,599 and spent £6,978 for each of its 209 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £48,000 (£228 per pupil).

Across all 65 schools of Reach2 Academy Trust, income was £7,346 and spending £7,105 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 Tendring · Essex local authority: places and applications

Kirby Primary Academy is part of Reach2 Academy Trust, which runs 65 schools. The nearest others:

• Burrsville Infant Academy Clacton-On-Sea
• Sir Martin Frobisher Academy Clacton-On-Sea
• Unity Primary Academy Colchester
• Camulos Academy Colchester
• Sprites Primary Academy Ipswich
• Martlesham Primary Academy Woodbridge
• Kemsley Primary Academy Sittingbourne
• Milton Court Primary Academy Sittingbourne
• Beccles Primary Academy Beccles
• Tymberwood Academy Gravesend

What is Kirby Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kirby Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Kirby Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Kirby Primary Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Kirby Primary Academy have?

Kirby Primary Academy has 207 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kirby Primary Academy cover?

Kirby Primary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Kirby Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Kirby Primary Academy?

Kirby Primary Academy is at Halstead Road, Kirby Cross, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, CO13 0LW.