Rowdown Primary School

Rowdown Primary School is a welcoming, settled school where staff work closely with families and pupils feel well cared for, including those who join part way through their primary education. The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well sequenced, reading is a priority and phonics is taught effectively, and pupils with SEND are identified precisely and supported well, including in the school’s Enhanced Learning Provision for pupils with autism. Personal development is a particular strength: visits, clubs and other enrichment help pupils learn about responsibility, community, health and safety, and pupils behave sensibly and attend more regularly than in recent years. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leadership is strong and well supported by governors and trustees, who know the school well, check its quality robustly and are ambitious for its further development. Leaders have taken effective action to address the lower published Year 6 outcomes in 2024, and current pupils achieve well. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, the school has had a new headteacher since January 2024, and many pupils join or leave part way through their primary education. The main areas for improvement concern assessment and vocabulary. Checks on pupils’ understanding are not always precise enough, so misconceptions can be missed and later learning can be affected. In some instances, pupils are not routinely encouraged to use key subject vocabulary in speaking and writing, which weakens their recall of important terms.

Strengths

• Welcoming school with strong support for families and pupils who join mid-year
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that captures pupils’ interest
• Pupils achieve well and build securely on prior learning
• Strong early reading and phonics provision that helps pupils become fluent readers
• Precise identification and effective support for pupils with SEND
• Ambitious, tailored curriculum in the Enhanced Learning Provision
• Focused professional support develops teachers’ secure subject knowledge
• Calm, settled behaviour with pupils using strategies to manage feelings
• Improved attendance and swift action to support low attendance
• Rich personal development through visits, clubs and enrichment
• Pupils learn about British values, protected characteristics, health and online safety
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Governors and trustees know the school well and check quality robustly
• Leaders support staff well-being thoughtfully

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment checks sometimes lack precision, so misconceptions are not identified and addressed effectively
• Key subject vocabulary is not always used routinely, weakening pupils’ recall of important terms

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 Rowdown Primary School attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.4% 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, 2.5% of pupils at Rowdown Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Rowdown Primary School had 20.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.7% 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, 25.0% of pupils at Rowdown Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 15 pupils.

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 Rowdown Primary School received £8,919 and spent £8,453 for each of its 309 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £225,000 (£728 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Fairchildes Academy Community Trust, income was £8,567 and spending £8,410 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 Croydon · Croydon local authority: places and applications

Rowdown Primary School is part of Fairchildes Academy Community Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Fairchildes Primary School Croydon
• Monks Orchard Primary School Croydon

What is Rowdown Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Rowdown Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Rowdown Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Rowdown Primary School have?

Rowdown Primary School has 316 pupils on roll.

What age range does Rowdown Primary School cover?

Rowdown Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Rowdown Primary School?

Rowdown Primary School is at Calley Down Crescent, New Addington, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 0EG.