Tenterden Church of England Junior School

Tenterden Church of England Junior School is a happy, caring and community-minded junior school where pupils feel safe, behave well and work hard. Inspectors found the school to be good across all four key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The school has an ambitious curriculum, strong reading provision, effective teaching and good support for pupils' mental and physical health. Pupils are well prepared for their next steps and benefit from a wide range of trips, sports and personal development opportunities. The main areas for improvement are not about the overall quality of education, which is strong, but about consistency in a small number of subjects. In some subjects, the curriculum does not identify precisely enough what pupils should learn and revisit, so pupils do not always deepen their understanding as well as they could. In a small number of wider curriculum subjects, adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are not precise enough, which means some of these pupils do not access the full curriculum as effectively as they should. Persistent absence is too high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, and remains a significant concern despite the school's careful analysis and wide range of support. This is the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is part of the Tenterden Schools Trust. Under the current inspection framework, the school did not receive an overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, proud and feel safe in a caring, community-minded school.
• Pupils behave well, understand the school values and show resilience in their work.
• Teachers have high expectations and pupils work hard to meet them.
• The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, with clearly identified knowledge and vocabulary in most subjects.
• Pupils develop fluency in mathematics and write accurately in a range of styles.
• Teachers have sound subject knowledge and check pupils' understanding carefully.
• Reading is taught effectively, with high-quality books matched precisely to pupils' phonics knowledge.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and generally achieve well.
• The school prioritises pupils' mental and physical health and offers strong pastoral and therapeutic support.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of sports clubs, trips and cultural experiences.
• Governance is strong, with knowledgeable governors and trustees who hold leaders to account effectively.
• Staff are positive about the support and training they receive and enjoy working at the school.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, the curriculum lacks precision about when pupils should learn specific skills, so pupils do not always deepen their understanding sufficiently.
• In some wider curriculum subjects, adaptations for pupils with SEND are not precise enough, so some pupils do not access the full curriculum effectively.
• Persistent absence is too high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, despite the school's support and analysis.

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 Tenterden Church of England Junior School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.5% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Tenterden Church of England Junior 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 Tenterden Church of England Junior School had 21.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.8% 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, 18.4% of pupils at Tenterden Church of England Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Tenterden Church of England Junior School received £6,618 and spent £6,806 for each of its 201 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £99,000 (£493 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Tenterden Schools Trust, income was £7,802 and spending £7,893 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 Tenterden · Kent local authority: places and applications

Tenterden Church of England Junior School is part of Tenterden Schools Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Tenterden Infant School Tenterden
• Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre Tenterden
• St Michael's Church of England Primary School Tenterden
• Rolvenden Primary School Cranbrook
• John Mayne Church of England Primary School Ashford

What is Tenterden Church of England Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Tenterden Church of England Junior School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Tenterden Church of England Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Tenterden Church of England Junior School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Tenterden Church of England Junior School have?

Tenterden Church of England Junior School has 206 pupils on roll.

What age range does Tenterden Church of England Junior School cover?

Tenterden Church of England Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Tenterden Church of England Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 46% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Tenterden Church of England Junior School?

Tenterden Church of England Junior School is at Recreation Ground Road, Tenterden, Kent, TN30 6RA.