Alderwood Primary School

Alderwood Primary School is a small, inclusive school within The Compass Trust, with a resourced provision for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder and a pupil population that has high proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with EHC plans. Pupils achieve very well: by the end of Year 6 they reach above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics, and disadvantaged pupils do particularly well. Inclusion is central to the school’s work, and vulnerable pupils, pupils with SEND and those in the resourced provision are well supported. Leadership, governance and trust oversight are strong, personal development and pastoral care are remarkable, behaviour is excellent, and children get a positive start in Reception. Attendance has improved and is now broadly in line with national averages, but persistent absence remains above the national average and leaders need to sustain recent improvements over time. The curriculum is broad and well designed, and teaching is generally effective, although adaptive teaching is not consistently applied for a small number of pupils with SEND. Overall, this is a strong school with a clear inclusive ethos, high achievement and effective leadership, alongside a small number of areas for further refinement.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve well above national averages, including in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Strong phonics and early reading provision gets children off to a swift start in Reception.
• Inclusion is central, with high expectations and effective support for vulnerable pupils and those in the ASD resourced provision.
• Leadership, governance and trust oversight are unified, rigorous and effective.
• Personal development and pastoral care are remarkable, building confidence and thoughtful citizens.
• Pupils' behaviour around school is excellent, with a calm and purposeful atmosphere.
• Bullying is extremely rare and discrimination is dealt with highly effectively.
• The early years curriculum is thoughtfully designed and well taught, with priority on communication, language and literacy.
• The curriculum is broad and well designed, and teachers build well on prior learning.
• Enrichment, trips and clubs are wide-ranging and made accessible to all pupils.
• Parents value the school highly and staff feel well supported with wellbeing and workload.
• Safeguarding culture is open and positive, with concerns actively identified and managed.

Areas for Improvement

• Persistent absence remains above the national average and recent attendance improvements need to be sustained.
• Overall absence is above the national average in the latest two terms.
• Adaptive teaching is not consistently applied for a small number of pupils with SEND, so learning plans are not always used as effectively as they could be.

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 Alderwood Primary School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.9% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Alderwood 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 Alderwood Primary School had 24.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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, 11.5% of pupils at Alderwood Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 11.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 10 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 Alderwood Primary School received £12,011 and spent £11,203 for each of its 199 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £262,000 (£1,316 per pupil).

Across all 24 schools of The Compass Partnership of Schools, income was £10,246 and spending £9,845 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 Greenwich · Greenwich local authority: places and applications

Alderwood Primary School is part of The Compass Partnership of Schools, which runs 28 schools. The nearest others:

• Deansfield Primary School London
• Willow Dene School Plumstead
• South Rise Primary School London
• Horn Park Primary School London
• Kidbrooke Park Primary School London
• Rowan Wood School London
• Wingfield Primary School London
• Boxgrove Primary School Greenwich
• Halstow Primary School London
• Kaizen Primary School London

What is Alderwood Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Alderwood Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Alderwood Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Alderwood Primary School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Alderwood Primary School have?

Alderwood Primary School has 192 pupils on roll.

What age range does Alderwood Primary School cover?

Alderwood Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 87% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Alderwood Primary School?

Alderwood Primary School is at Rainham Close, Eltham, London, SE9 2JH.