Petham Primary School

Petham Primary School continues to perform well, maintaining the high standards established in previous inspections. The school offers a supportive and engaging environment for pupils, fostering both personal and academic growth. The staff at Petham Primary hold high expectations for student behavior and learning, which reflects positively in the pupils' enthusiasm and well-mannered conduct. The school is supported by a strong multi-academy trust, which provides effective oversight and guidance, ensuring robust procedures for monitoring performance and safeguarding.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a warm and welcoming environment.
• The school has a carefully designed curriculum that promotes personal and academic achievement.
• Staff maintain consistently high expectations for learning and behavior.
• The phonics program is well-established and highly effective.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND is in place, enabling their full participation.
• The PSHE curriculum significantly contributes to personal development.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Areas for Improvement

• Refinement of subject-specific vocabulary in some foundation subjects is not yet complete.

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 Petham Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.2% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Petham Primary 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 Petham Primary School had 14.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 18.2% of pupils at Petham Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.0% 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 Petham Primary School received £8,193 and spent £7,991 for each of its 103 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £89,000 (£867 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of Our Community Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,845 and spending £7,701 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 Canterbury · Kent local authority: places and applications

Petham Primary School is part of Our Community Multi Academy Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Selling Church of England Primary School Faversham
• Lynsted and Norton Primary School Sittingbourne
• Dymchurch Primary School Romney Marsh
• Milstead and Frinsted Church of England Primary School Sittingbourne
• The Oaks Infant School Sittingbourne
• Minterne Junior School Sittingbourne
• Bredgar Church of England Primary School Sittingbourne
• Borden Church of England Primary School Sittingbourne
• Lydd Primary School Romney Marsh

What is Petham Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Petham Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Petham Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Petham Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Petham Primary School have?

Petham Primary School has 99 pupils on roll.

What age range does Petham Primary School cover?

Petham Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Petham Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Petham Primary School?

Petham Primary School is at Petham, Canterbury, Kent, CT4 5RD.