Fleetdown Primary Academy

Fleetdown Primary Academy is a good school across all inspected areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Pupils are described as safe, happy, inclusive and confident learners who achieve well and behave consistently positively. The school has a comprehensive and balanced curriculum, strong teaching of reading and phonics, effective support for pupils with SEND, and a culture in which pupils are well prepared for their next stages of education. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and staff, governors and trustees are seen as well supported and committed to improvement. The main areas for improvement concern consistency and attendance. Some disadvantaged pupils do not attend regularly enough or arrive late, which means they miss important learning and develop gaps in their understanding. There is also variability in how well the curriculum is implemented, particularly because staff newer to the school have not yet fully benefited from training and support, so some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, do not always learn the curriculum as well as they could. This was the school’s first routine inspection under section 5 since it converted to academy status, and no overall effectiveness grade is awarded under current arrangements. The predecessor school had previously been judged outstanding. Fleetdown is part of The Golden Thread Alliance Trust and has a specially resourced provision for pupils with profound hearing impairment.

Strengths

• Comprehensive and balanced curriculum with clearly sequenced content
• Strong and well-sequenced phonics and reading teaching
• Pupils develop into fluent and confident readers who love reading
• SEND is accurately identified and pupils with SEND are consistently well supported
• Pupils with SEND achieve well from Reception onwards
• Positive behaviour and consistently followed routines and rules
• Inclusive culture where pupils feel heard and cared for
• Strong personal development, including current affairs and sign language
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Staff well-being and professional development are well managed
• Governors and trustees meet statutory duties and support improvement
• Early years provision uses high-quality adult and child interactions

Areas for Improvement

• Disadvantaged pupils’ attendance and punctuality are not improved enough
• Some disadvantaged pupils miss important learning and develop gaps in understanding
• Curriculum implementation varies because newer staff have not fully benefited from training
• Some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, do not always learn the curriculum as well as they could

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 Fleetdown Primary Academy attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.4% 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 Fleetdown Primary Academy 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 Fleetdown Primary Academy had 23.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 3.9% 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, 9.6% of pupils at Fleetdown Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 Fleetdown Primary Academy received £6,039 and spent £5,667 for each of its 648 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £445,000 (£687 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

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

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

What is Fleetdown Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Fleetdown Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Fleetdown Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Fleetdown Primary Academy was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Fleetdown Primary Academy have?

Fleetdown Primary Academy has 636 pupils on roll.

What age range does Fleetdown Primary Academy cover?

Fleetdown Primary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Fleetdown Primary Academy?

Fleetdown Primary Academy is at Lunedale Road, Darenth, Dartford, Kent, DA2 6JX.