Lessness Heath Primary School

Lessness Heath Primary School continues to perform well as a good school, demonstrating a strong and inclusive educational environment for its pupils. The school's ambitious curriculum begins in Nursery and is designed to support all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), ensuring they achieve well and are fully included in school life. The focus on the school's 'Lessness Legacy' initiative enriches pupils' experiences, fostering a well-rounded educational journey filled with memorable activities.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and happy in a welcoming environment.
• The ambitious curriculum begins in Nursery and is well-structured.
• Effective support is provided for pupils with SEND.
• Teaching ensures that most pupils learn well with minimal disruption.
• Positive behavior is encouraged, and bullying is dealt with swiftly.
• The school's enriching activities broaden pupils' horizons.
• Strong partnerships with parents help support children's language development.

Areas for Improvement

• Some inconsistencies in the delivery of the new phonics scheme affect rapid progress.
• A minority of pupils are practicing with reading books that are too difficult.

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 Lessness Heath Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.4% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Lessness Heath 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 Lessness Heath Primary School had 21.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.7% 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, 27.6% of pupils at Lessness Heath Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% 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 Lessness Heath Primary School received £7,173 and spent £6,840 for each of its 633 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £257,000 (£406 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Primary First Trust, income was £6,524 and spending £6,354 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 Bexley · Bexley local authority: places and applications

Lessness Heath Primary School is part of The Primary First Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Barnehurst Junior School Erith
• Barnehurst Infant School Erith
• Mayplace Primary School Barnehurst
• Springhead Park Primary School Northfleet
• Westcourt Primary School Gravesend
• Cuxton Community Junior School Rochester
• Cuxton Community Infant School Rochester
• Wainscott Primary School Rochester
• Wayfield Primary School Chatham
• Parkwood Primary School Gillingham

What is Lessness Heath Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lessness Heath Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was Lessness Heath Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lessness Heath Primary School was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does Lessness Heath Primary School have?

Lessness Heath Primary School has 638 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lessness Heath Primary School cover?

Lessness Heath Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is Lessness Heath Primary School?

Lessness Heath Primary School is at Erith Road, Belvedere, Kent, DA17 6HB.