Halstead Community Primary School

Halstead Community Primary School is a small primary school within The Pioneer Academy Trust and has improved since its previous inspection. The school and trust have taken decisive action to strengthen the curriculum, and pupils are welcoming, respectful and well behaved. Classrooms are calm, children in the early years settle quickly, and pupils are happy and feel safe. Reading is prioritised, pupils with SEND are well supported, and the broader personal development offer gives pupils many valuable community and enrichment experiences. Safeguarding is effective.

Strengths

• Welcoming, caring and inclusive culture where pupils and staff respect one another
• Pupils behave well, classrooms are calm and children settle quickly in the early years
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum with clear routines and effective revisiting of prior learning
• Reading is prioritised, with books matched to ability and support for pupils falling behind
• Strong early years provision with purposeful indoor and outdoor learning
• Effective support for pupils with SEND through collaboration with professionals and the trust
• Broad personal development offer, including community, financial education, council roles and sport
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Adaptations to learning activities and resources are not always precisely tailored to some pupils' individual needs
• Some pupils miss out on opportunities because of poor attendance, although attendance is improving for some

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 Halstead Community Primary School attended 89.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 39.5% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Halstead Community 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 Halstead Community Primary School had 11.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% 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, 21.8% of pupils at Halstead Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 36.4% 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 Halstead Community Primary School received £18,561 and spent £17,968 for each of its 37 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £16,000 (£423 per pupil).

Across all 22 schools of The Pioneer Academy, income was £7,355 and spending £7,206 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 Sevenoaks · Kent local authority: places and applications

Halstead Community Primary School is part of The Pioneer Academy, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• Shoreham Village School Sevenoaks
• Downe Primary School Orpington
• Southborough Primary School Bromley
• Ightham Primary School Sevenoaks
• Red Hill Primary School Chislehurst
• Burnt Oak Junior School Sidcup
• Chatsworth Infant School Sidcup
• Holland Junior School Oxted
• Edenbridge Primary School Edenbridge
• Stewart Fleming Primary School London

What is Halstead Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Halstead Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Halstead Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Halstead Community Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Halstead Community Primary School have?

Halstead Community Primary School has 55 pupils on roll.

What age range does Halstead Community Primary School cover?

Halstead Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 86% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Halstead Community Primary School?

Halstead Community Primary School is at Otford Lane, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN14 7EA.