Oakfield Primary Academy

Oakfield Primary Academy is a large primary school in Dartford, part of The Golden Thread Alliance, with a resourced provision for autistic pupils called the Arc. This full inspection found safeguarding standards are met. The school is performing securely overall: inclusion and personal development are particular strengths, early reading is strong, and the early years provision gives children an excellent start. Pupils feel safe, behave well, attend more consistently than in the past, and benefit from a broad, engaging curriculum. Leadership and governance are effective, with the acting headteacher providing stability and trust support helping to sustain improvement. Most other areas are at the expected standard. Pupils achieve broadly in line with national expectations, and pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and those with lower starting points are well supported to make progress. The main areas for further work are early writing and handwriting, where too few younger pupils secure essential skills quickly enough, and the consistency of teaching, particularly checking pupils’ understanding and responding to misconceptions across all classes. Overall, this is an inclusive and ambitious school with strong pastoral care and a clear sense of community. Leaders know their strengths and priorities, and the next steps are focused on strengthening handwriting and embedding consistently high-quality teaching so all pupils benefit from effective learning.

Strengths

• Inclusion is central to the school’s culture, with high expectations for all pupils.
• Robust systems identify pupils’ individual needs and swift bespoke support is put in place.
• Pupils with SEND are expertly supported, including in the Arc resourced provision.
• The personal development programme is comprehensive and carefully sequenced.
• Pupils’ understanding of protected characteristics and fundamental British values is a particular strength.
• Early reading is a particular strength and is taught systematically through a well-structured phonics programme.
• Early years provision gives children an excellent start, especially in nursery.
• Pupils typically behave well, classrooms are calm and purposeful, and bullying is rare.
• Attendance has improved over time for different groups, including disadvantaged pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils access additional support and enrichment opportunities, including targeted provision for young carers.
• Leaders and governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value high-quality professional development and trust support.

Areas for Improvement

• Writing, especially early handwriting, is not yet as well developed, and too few younger pupils secure essential early writing skills quickly enough.
• Staff checking of pupils’ understanding and response to misconceptions is not yet consistently effective across all classes.
• Teaching quality is not yet uniformly aligned to leaders’ expectations so all pupils benefit from effective learning experiences.

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 Oakfield Primary Academy attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.1% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Oakfield Primary Academy 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 Oakfield Primary Academy had 24.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.5% 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, 20.0% of pupils at Oakfield Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 5 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 Oakfield Primary Academy received £7,366 and spent £7,111 for each of its 703 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £434,000 (£618 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 Dartford · Kent local authority: places and applications

Oakfield Primary Academy is part of The Golden Thread Alliance, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

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

What is Oakfield Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Oakfield Primary Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Oakfield Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Oakfield Primary Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Oakfield Primary Academy have?

Oakfield Primary Academy has 716 pupils on roll.

What age range does Oakfield Primary Academy cover?

Oakfield Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Oakfield Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Oakfield Primary Academy?

Oakfield Primary Academy is at Oakfield Lane, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2SW.