Balfour Junior School

Medway · ME4 6QX

General information Junior School · 7-11 years Who goes here 480 pupils, 30.6% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 18.1% on SEN support Behaviour 5.5% absence rate Staff 2.5% turnover Financials £5,369 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Balfour Junior School

General Information

Address: Balfour Road, Chatham, ME4 6QX – View on map
Phone: 01634843833
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Zoe Mayston
Age range: 7-11 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

480 pupils out of 480 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 147
% eligible for free school meals: 30.6%
Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Medway average)
English as an additional language: 37% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 2.5% a year (Medway 17.4%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 33% moved to another school, 67% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Medway: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Medway, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 5.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 14.8%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 18.1%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 0.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 41 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 14 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
Physical disability: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 71% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 14% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 10 percentage points above the Medway average (61%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 62% against an expected 65%)
3-year average (expected standard): 62%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 79% · Writing 79% · Maths 84% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 76%
Average test scores: reading 106, maths 108
Based on: 119 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolMedway averageEngland↗ Improving Up 21 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 10 percentage points above the Medway average (61%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 13th of 54 junior and primary schools in the area

=11Cuxton Community Junior School72%
=11Hempstead Junior School72%
=13Balfour Junior School71%
=13Halling Primary School71%
=13St Helen's Church of England Primary School, Cliffe71%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Napier Community Primary and Nursery Academy84%
#2The Pilgrim School (A Church of England Primary With Nursery)83%
#3Leigh Academy High Halstow81%
#4Thames View Primary School80%
#5St Margaret's at Troy Town CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School79%
=6St Benedict's Catholic Primary School77%
=6Walderslade Primary School77%
#8Lordswood School76%
#9Leigh Academy Hundred of Hoo75%
#10Fairview Community Primary School73%
=11Cuxton Community Junior School72%
=11Hempstead Junior School72%
=13Balfour Junior School71%
=13Halling Primary School71%
=13St Helen's Church of England Primary School, Cliffe71%
=13St Mary's Island Church of England (Aided) Primary School71%
=17Elaine Primary School70%
=17Oaklands School70%
=17St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School70%
=20Chattenden Primary School69%
=20The Academy of Woodlands69%
=22All Saints Church of England Primary School68%
=22Brompton-Westbrook Primary School68%
#24St Margaret's Church of England Junior School67%
=25Kingfisher Community Primary School66%
=25New Road Primary School66%
=25Temple Mill Primary School66%
#28Gordons Children's Academy, Junior65%
#29Featherby Junior School64%
=30Hilltop Primary School62%
=30Saxon Way Primary School62%
=32All Faiths Children's Academy61%
=32Leigh Academy Peninsula East61%
#34Delce Academy60%
=35Cedar Children's Academy57%
=35St Mary's Catholic Primary School57%
=37Bligh Primary School (Juniors)56%
=37Maundene School56%
=37Miers Court Primary School56%
=37Riverside Primary School56%
#41Cliffe Woods Primary School53%
=42Barnsole Primary School52%
=42Hoo St Werburgh Primary School and the Marlborough52%
=42Oasis Academy Skinner Street52%
=42Twydall Primary School and Nursery52%
#46Byron Primary School51%
#47Wainscott Primary School48%
=48Phoenix Primary School38%
=48St James Church of England Primary Academy38%
=48Warren Wood Primary School38%
#51Luton Primary School36%
#52New Horizons Children's Academy35%
#53Wayfield Primary School31%
#54Deanwood Primary School28%

View full Ofsted inspection report

1st of 7 junior schools in Medway for Ofsted rating

#1Balfour Junior SchoolGood
#2Bligh Primary School (Juniors)Good
#3Cuxton Community Junior SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Balfour Junior SchoolGood
#2Bligh Primary School (Juniors)Good
#3Cuxton Community Junior SchoolGood
#4Featherby Junior SchoolGood
#5Gordons Children's Academy, JuniorGood
#6Hempstead Junior SchoolGood
#7St Margaret's Church of England Junior SchoolGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £5,369 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

5th of 6 junior schools in Medway for spending per pupil

#3Cuxton Community Junior School£5,753
#4Hempstead Junior School£5,474
#5Balfour Junior School£5,369
#6St Margaret's Church of England Junior School£5,359

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Bligh Primary School (Juniors)£11,008
#2Featherby Junior School£10,897
#3Cuxton Community Junior School£5,753
#4Hempstead Junior School£5,474
#5Balfour Junior School£5,369
#6St Margaret's Church of England Junior School£5,359

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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