Warren Wood Primary School

Warren Wood Primary is a primary school in Medway that has experienced significant leadership and trust change since its previous inspection. It joined the Beyond Schools Trust in April 2024, has a new headteacher and senior leadership team, and this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspectors found a calm, happy school where pupils are respectful, caring and feel safe, and where behaviour, personal development and leadership are strong. Safeguarding is effective. The school has raised expectations and introduced an ambitious curriculum, and staff benefit from training and trust support. Pupils' mental health and wider development are prioritised, reading begins early, and attendance is improving through targeted support. However, the quality of education and early years provision require improvement because curriculum implementation is uneven, some pupils have significant gaps in knowledge, and they do not recall or apply learning consistently well. The main priorities are to strengthen phonics teaching so pupils become fluent readers sooner, improve teachers' checks on understanding so gaps are identified and addressed, and ensure staff have the knowledge and skills to deliver the new curriculum effectively across subjects. Leaders are aware that a small number of staff feel the pace of change has affected workload. The trust and governors are seen as ambitious and supportive, and inspectors judge the school is progressively improving.

Strengths

• Pupils are respectful, courteous and caring, showing high levels of empathy.
• A calm and happy atmosphere helps pupils build positive relationships and feel safe.
• Behaviour routines are clear and consistently applied, and pupils have positive attitudes to learning.
• Pupils' mental health and well-being are prioritised, with skilled pastoral support.
• The curriculum is ambitious and designed to meet the needs of all pupils.
• Adaptations for pupils with SEND, including the specially resourced provision, are well designed.
• Reading is prioritised from Nursery, with songs, rhymes and frequent reading for older pupils.
• Attendance is improving because the school identifies and supports pupils who need help.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain and develop mature attitudes to difference.
• Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs and sports.
• Staff enjoy working at the school and benefit from training that prepares them for their roles.
• Trust and governance provide high ambition, support and challenge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is uneven across subjects, leaving some pupils with significant knowledge gaps.
• Teachers' checks on learning do not always identify gaps clearly enough to help pupils catch up.
• Some staff lack secure enough phonics subject knowledge, so pupils do not become confident readers swiftly.
• Pupils do not recall or apply learning consistently well, starting in Early Years.
• A small number of staff feel the pace of change has had a negative impact on workload.

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 Warren Wood Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.7% 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, 3.8% of pupils at Warren Wood 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 Warren Wood Primary School had 18.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.0% 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, 12.2% of pupils at Warren Wood Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 11.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 40 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 Warren Wood Primary School received £7,623 and spent £7,510 for each of its 460 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £184,000 (£400 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of Beyond Schools Trust, income was £7,811 and spending £7,751 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 Rochester · Medway local authority: places and applications

Warren Wood Primary School is part of Beyond Schools Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• The Thomas Aveling School Rochester
• Balfour Junior School Chatham
• Walderslade School Chatham
• Phoenix Primary School Chatham
• Fort Pitt Grammar School Chatham
• Greenacre School Chatham
• The Robert Napier School Gillingham
• Hilltop Primary School Rochester
• Chantry Community Primary School Gravesend

What is Warren Wood Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Warren Wood Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Warren Wood Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Warren Wood Primary School have?

Warren Wood Primary School has 458 pupils on roll.

What age range does Warren Wood Primary School cover?

Warren Wood Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Warren Wood Primary School?

Warren Wood Primary School is at Arethusa Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2UR.