Whitehill Primary School

Whitehill Primary School is currently judged as requiring improvement overall, with notable strengths in personal development and early years provision. While behavior and attitudes have significantly improved, fostering a safe and happy environment for pupils, the school's academic performance in certain areas, particularly after the early years, remains a concern. Despite efforts to enrich the curriculum and boost reading instruction, inconsistencies in teaching and assessment hinder the ability of students to achieve their potential, especially in critical subjects like mathematics.

Strengths

• Early years provision is well-planned, providing a successful start for children.
• Behaviour and attitudes of pupils are good, with effective management of conduct.
• Personal development programs such as PSHE are well delivered, fostering responsible citizenship.
• Improved attendance rates for all pupils, particularly those disadvantaged and with SEND.
• The school delivers a new reading program effectively to enhance phonics achievement.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement remains low across the school, particularly in mathematics.
• Inconsistencies in teaching methods and assessment practices affect learning outcomes.
• Stakeholder engagement, particularly among parents, is a challenge.

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 Whitehill Primary School attended 92.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.2% 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, 1.7% of pupils at Whitehill 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 Whitehill Primary School had 21.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 39.3% 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, 10.5% of pupils at Whitehill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% 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 2023–24 Whitehill Primary School received £5,681 and spent £5,601 for each of its 623 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £725,000 (£1,164 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Aletheia Academies Trust, income was £6,271 and spending £6,423 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 Gravesend · Kent local authority: places and applications

Whitehill Primary School is part of Aletheia Academies Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Saint George's Church of England School Gravesend
• Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Gravesend
• Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend
• St Botolph's Church of England Primary School Gravesend
• Rosherville Church of England Academy Gravesend
• Sedley's Church of England Primary School Gravesend
• Shorne Church of England Primary School Gravesend
• Alkerden Church of England Academy Ebbsfleet Valley
• Stone St Mary's CofE Primary School Greenhithe
• Cliffe Woods Primary School Rochester

What is Whitehill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Whitehill Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Whitehill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Whitehill Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Whitehill Primary School have?

Whitehill Primary School has 515 pupils on roll.

What age range does Whitehill Primary School cover?

Whitehill Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 42% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Whitehill Primary School?

Whitehill Primary School is at Sun Lane, Gravesend, Kent, DA12 5HN.