Vale View Community School

Vale View Community School has made a strong recovery since troubling performance prior to joining a multi-academy trust. The school now delivers a good quality of education characterized by supportive relationships between pupils and staff, fostering a safe and enjoyable learning environment. With well-structured support systems in place for both academic and social-emotional needs, students are encouraged to strive for their personal best. This inspection marks the school's first under current regulations, highlighting its ongoing development and stability since becoming an academy in 2018.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and enjoy learning in a supportive environment.
• Strong relationships between pupils and staff enhance the school community.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that is carefully considered.
• Reading is prioritized and taught effectively with a structured phonics program.
• Pupils are encouraged to participate in a range of clubs and activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Leaders need to better identify the impact of their work on different groups of pupils.
• Assessment practices in some subjects are still in early stages of development.
• Curricular continuity between early years and key stage 1 could be improved.

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 Vale View Community School attended 93.3% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Vale View Community School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Vale View Community School had 24.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.0% 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, 34.2% of pupils at Vale View Community School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% 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 Vale View Community School received £6,941 and spent £6,873 for each of its 224 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £325,000 (£1,451 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Whinless Down Academy Trust, income was £7,613 and spending £7,365 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 Dover · Kent local authority: places and applications

Vale View Community School is part of Whinless Down Academy Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Priory Fields School Dover
• St Martin's School Dover

What is Vale View Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Vale View Community School is Good, from an inspection in June 2022.

When was Vale View Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Vale View Community School was last inspected in June 2022.

How many pupils does Vale View Community School have?

Vale View Community School has 222 pupils on roll.

What age range does Vale View Community School cover?

Vale View Community School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Vale View Community School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Vale View Community School?

Vale View Community School is at Vale View Road, Elms Vale, Dover, Kent, CT17 9NP.