Culverstone Green Primary School

Culverstone Green Primary is a happy, caring and vibrant school where pupils feel safe, supported and listened to. Behaviour and personal development are strong, the early years provision gives children a strong start, and reading is a clear priority with effective phonics teaching and prompt support for pupils who need to catch up. Pupils value responsibilities, clubs and the wider experiences the school provides, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. However, the quality of education and leadership require improvement. In too many subjects, learning activities do not build securely on the key knowledge set out in the curriculum, and some pupils, particularly those with SEND, do not receive the support or adaptations they need to access the curriculum well. Disadvantaged pupils’ attendance has improved but remains too low, meaning some miss important learning. The school is part of the Golden Thread Alliance Trust and has a headteacher who took up post in September 2024. Leaders are focused on improvement and are well supported by governors and the trust, but staff turbulence has slowed progress. The school was previously judged good at its last inspection.

Strengths

• Warm, caring and inclusive school community where pupils feel happy and supported
• Strong early years provision that prepares children well for the next stage
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with clear progression from Reception to Year 6
• Effective phonics teaching and prompt reading support that helps pupils catch up
• Pupils develop a love of reading through access to diverse books
• Consistently good behaviour and respectful relationships
• Strong personal development, including understanding of health, social justice and diversity
• Pupils value responsibilities such as school council, house captains and play leaders
• Wide range of clubs, trips, residentials and workshops that build community
• Leaders, governors and trust have a clear focus on improvement and hold the school to account
• Staff feel well supported by leaders
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils with SEND do not receive effective support to access the curriculum
• Teachers in too many subjects are not equipped to design learning activities that secure key curriculum knowledge
• Pupils do not achieve as well as they should across a range of subjects, including disadvantaged pupils
• Disadvantaged pupils’ attendance remains too low, causing missed learning
• Staff turbulence has slowed progress in improving the quality of education
• Quality of education requires improvement
• Leadership and management require improvement

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 Culverstone Green Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.5% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Culverstone Green 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 Culverstone Green Primary School had 18.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.4% 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, 13.0% of pupils at Culverstone Green Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Culverstone Green Primary School received £6,648 and spent £7,103 for each of its 204 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £15,000 (-£75 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Golden Thread Alliance, income was £6,661 and spending £6,531 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

Culverstone Green Primary School is part of The Golden Thread Alliance, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Meopham Community Academy Gravesend
• The Riverview Academy Gravesend
• Wrotham Road Primary School Gravesend
• Fleetdown Primary Academy Dartford
• Oakfield Primary Academy Dartford
• Temple Hill Primary Academy Dartford
• West Hill Primary Academy Dartford

What is Culverstone Green Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Culverstone Green Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Culverstone Green Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Culverstone Green Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Culverstone Green Primary School have?

Culverstone Green Primary School has 207 pupils on roll.

What age range does Culverstone Green Primary School cover?

Culverstone Green Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Culverstone Green Primary School?

Culverstone Green Primary School is at Wrotham Road, Meopham, Gravesend, Kent, DA13 0RF.