Miers Court Primary School

Miers Court Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school in Rainham, Kent, and is part of The Howard Academy Trust. Inspectors found the school performing strongly overall, with safeguarding standards met. Attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing are all strong. Achievement and curriculum and teaching are expected standard. Pupils are positive, well behaved, attend well, and benefit from an inclusive and ambitious provision. The school's early years and inclusion work are notable strengths. Children get an excellent start in Reception, with language and phonics prioritised, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers are identified quickly and supported effectively. Leadership is also a strength: governors and the trust provide strong challenge and support, staff feel valued, and the personal development programme is broad and coherent. There are areas for development. Attainment in mathematics has been below national averages in some recent years, and disadvantaged pupils have historically had large attainment gaps compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally, although recent action is closing these gaps. Some pupils who join in Key Stage 2 with lower starting points have not always caught up by the end of Year 6, but leaders are acting effectively. Teaching adaptations are not yet consistently strong across all curriculum areas. The main next step is to embed the school's high curriculum and teaching standards consistently so that all pupils achieve equally well.

Strengths

• Safeguarding arrangements are effective and create an open culture of safeguarding.
• Pupils' attendance is above the national average and remains a sustained priority.
• Behaviour is consistently strong; pupils are courteous, focused and cooperative.
• Children in Reception get an excellent start, with language and phonics prioritised.
• Inclusion is highly effective; pupils with SEND and other barriers are identified and supported swiftly.
• Leaders and governors have a clear inclusive vision and provide strong challenge and support.
• Staff benefit from high-quality trust-led training and feel valued.
• Personal development is broad and coherent, preparing pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Pupils achieve well overall from their starting points, including those with SEND.
• Recent action to improve mathematics and support late joiners is showing rapid improvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Attainment in mathematics has been below national averages in some recent years.
• Disadvantaged pupils' attainment has been below national averages, with large gaps in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Some pupils who join in Key Stage 2 with lower starting points have not always caught up by the end of Year 6.
• Teaching adaptations are not yet consistently strong across all curriculum areas.
• Leaders need to embed high curriculum and teaching standards consistently throughout the school.

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 Miers Court Primary School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.3% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Miers Court 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 Miers Court Primary School had 27.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.9% 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, 13.2% of pupils at Miers Court Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Miers Court Primary School received £5,454 and spent £5,489 for each of its 422 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £140,000 (£333 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Howard Academy Trust, income was £7,563 and spending £7,548 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 Medway · Medway local authority: places and applications

Miers Court Primary School is part of The Howard Academy Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• The Howard School Gillingham
• Thames View Primary School Gillingham
• Deanwood Primary School Gillingham
• Waterfront UTC Chatham
• Temple Mill Primary School Rochester
• The Abbey School Faversham
• Hurstmere School Sidcup

What is Miers Court Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Miers Court Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Miers Court Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Miers Court Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Miers Court Primary School have?

Miers Court Primary School has 417 pupils on roll.

What age range does Miers Court Primary School cover?

Miers Court Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Miers Court Primary School?

Miers Court Primary School is at Silverspot Close, Rainham, Kent, ME8 8JR.