Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School

Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School is a warm, friendly and welcoming school where pupils follow the school values and behave well from the early years onwards. Staff have high expectations, pupils engage positively in lessons, and relationships are strong. This was the school’s first section 5 inspection; it converted to academy status in January 2024, joined Discovery Educational Trust, and has a headteacher who has been in post since January 2024. The trust has carefully managed considerable change, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The curriculum is broad, balanced and well sequenced, and phonics teaching is a notable strength because of high-quality training and effective catch-up support. Pupils develop a strong reading culture, and most pupils with SEND achieve well. Behaviour and attendance have improved significantly, personal development is effective, and staff are well supported with thoughtful professional development and attention to workload and wellbeing. Parents are positive about the school. The main areas for improvement are assessment and SEND progress measurement. In a few newly developed subjects, teachers’ checks on learning are not fully effective, so pupils sometimes lack the prerequisite knowledge needed for new content. Some staff also lack the skills to measure accurately the progress of a small number of pupils with SEND, meaning those pupils do not always move on when they are ready.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming and values-led school culture
• High expectations with focused and engaged pupils
• Broad, balanced and well-sequenced curriculum
• Strong subject knowledge among staff
• High-quality phonics teaching with effective catch-up support
• Positive reading culture with well-matched books and OWL badges
• Pupils behave well from the early years onwards
• Behaviour policy implemented consistently and behaviour has improved
• Attendance has improved significantly
• Effective personal development programme supporting physical and mental wellbeing
• Wide range of trips, swimming, forest activities and leadership opportunities
• Quick identification of SEND and adaptation of the curriculum
• Most pupils with SEND achieve well
• Thoughtful staff development with attention to workload and wellbeing
• Strong governance and positive parent views
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In a few newly developed subjects, teachers’ checks on learning are not fully effective
• Pupils sometimes lack the prerequisite knowledge needed to learn new content
• Some staff cannot accurately measure the progress of a small number of pupils with SEND
• Some pupils with SEND do not always move on in their learning when ready

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 Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.0% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Kelvedon Hatch 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 Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School had 17.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 54.5% 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, 21.1% of pupils at Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% 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 Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School received £8,112 and spent £8,744 for each of its 162 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £7,000 (£43 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Discovery Educational Trust, income was £7,921 and spending £7,999 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 Brentwood · Essex local authority: places and applications

Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School is part of Discovery Educational Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Larchwood Primary School Brentwood
• Hogarth Primary School Brentwood
• St Martin's School Brentwood Brentwood
• Chase High School Westcliff-On-Sea

What is Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School have?

Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School has 147 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School cover?

Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

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

Where is Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School?

Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School is at School Road, Kelvedon Hatch, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 0DH.