Barming Primary School

Barming Primary School is a good school across all key judgements, with effective safeguarding. Pupils are happy and feel part of a welcoming community, behaviour is strong, and personal development is well supported. The school has high expectations and has worked successfully to improve the curriculum and pupils’ achievement since the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading is a notable strength, including in the early years, where children get off to a strong start. The curriculum is more ambitious and carefully sequenced, and pupils with SEND are supported well. Attendance has improved, staff feel valued, and the trust provides effective support for school improvement. The main area for development is that teaching is not yet consistently adapted to meet all pupils’ needs in some subjects, which means some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. Leaders should continue developing teaching so that all pupils achieve equally highly across the whole curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and feel part of a welcoming community
• Pupils behave well and understand the school’s routines and values
• The school has high expectations for pupils’ academic achievement
• Reading is a strong priority, with a rigorous early reading curriculum
• Children get off to a strong start in the early years
• The curriculum is ambitious and sequenced in small steps from Reception to Year 6
• Staff identify and fill gaps in pupils’ knowledge effectively
• Pupils with SEND are supported ambitiously, including in reading
• Personal development is well promoted, including respect for differences
• Attendance has improved and pupils attend regularly
• Staff feel valued and workload is considered during change
• The trust understands the school and provides effective improvement support
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Activities in some lessons are not consistently adapted to meet pupils’ needs across some subjects
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could because teaching adaptation is still developing
• The school should continue developing teaching so all pupils achieve equally highly across the whole curriculum

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 Barming Primary School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.4% 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, 0.6% of pupils at Barming 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 Barming Primary School had 23.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.1% 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, 6.9% of pupils at Barming Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.5% 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 Barming Primary School received £6,300 and spent £6,177 for each of its 457 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £440,000 (£962 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Orchard Academy Trust, income was £5,947 and spending £5,821 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 Maidstone · Kent local authority: places and applications

Barming Primary School is part of Orchard Academy Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Allington Primary School Maidstone

What is Barming Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Barming Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was Barming Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Barming Primary School was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does Barming Primary School have?

Barming Primary School has 480 pupils on roll.

What age range does Barming Primary School cover?

Barming Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 48% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Barming Primary School?

Barming Primary School is at Belmont Close, Barming, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 9DY.