Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School

Dover · CT16 1QX

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 161 pupils, 60.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 15.5% on SEN support Behaviour 9.0% absence rate Staff 14.8% turnover Financials £8,250 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School

General Information

Address: Laureston Place, Dover, CT16 1QX – View on map
Phone: 01304206887
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Matthew Lamprell
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 16 families put it first for 20 places – 8 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

161 pupils out of 210 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 97
% eligible for free school meals: 60.2%
Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Dover average)
English as an additional language: 44% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 14.8% a year (Dover 13.6%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

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 Kent: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 21 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 32 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (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 Kent (the council area this school is in), 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: 9.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 30.8%
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: 15.5%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 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

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 35% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 24 percentage points below the Dover average (59%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 53% against an expected 55%)
3-year average (expected standard): 53%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 45% · Writing 65% · Maths 55% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 45%
Average test scores: reading 100, maths 98
Based on: 20 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 schoolDover averageEngland↘ Falling Down 30 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 24 percentage points below the Dover average (59%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 33rd of 37 junior and primary schools in the area

#31Charlton Church of England Primary School45%
#32Warden House Primary School42%
=33Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School35%
=33Green Park Community Primary School35%
#35Goodnestone Church of England Primary School33%

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

=1Kingsdown and Ringwould Church of England Primary School82%
=1Shepherdswell Church of England Primary School82%
#3Temple Ewell Church of England Primary School81%
#4Northbourne Church of England Primary School80%
#5Langdon Primary School79%
#6Wingham Primary School77%
#7Lydden Primary School75%
=8Sandwich Junior School73%
=8Sholden Church of England Primary School73%
#10St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Aylesham71%
#11St Martin's School70%
=12Deal Parochial Church of England Primary School69%
=12St Mary's Catholic Primary School69%
=12St Richard's Catholic Primary School69%
#15Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School68%
#16Barton Junior School66%
#17Eastry Church of England Primary School64%
#18Preston Primary School63%
#19River Primary School62%
#20Vale View Community School60%
#21Hornbeam Primary School58%
#22White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School57%
#23Ash Cartwright and Kelsey Church of England Primary School54%
#24Priory Fields School53%
#25St Margaret's-at-Cliffe Primary School52%
=26Capel-le-Ferne Primary School50%
=26Sandown School50%
#28The Downs Church of England Primary School48%
=29Aycliffe Community Primary School46%
=29Whitfield Aspen School46%
#31Charlton Church of England Primary School45%
#32Warden House Primary School42%
=33Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School35%
=33Green Park Community Primary School35%
#35Goodnestone Church of England Primary School33%
#36Worth Primary School14%
#37Nonington Church of England Primary School0%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,250 (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.

10th of 36 primary schools in Dover for spending per pupil

#8White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School£8,572
#9Lydden Primary School£8,427
#10Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School£8,250
#11Eastry Church of England Primary School£8,133
#12Langdon Primary School£7,885

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

#1Goodnestone Church of England Primary School£12,500
#2Whitfield Aspen School£12,207
#3Aycliffe Community Primary School£11,522
#4Nonington Church of England Primary School£10,933
#5St Mary's Catholic Primary School£10,006
#6Worth Primary School£9,800
#7Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School£8,581
#8White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School£8,572
#9Lydden Primary School£8,427
#10Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School£8,250
#11Eastry Church of England Primary School£8,133
#12Langdon Primary School£7,885
#13Sholden Church of England Primary School£7,736
#14Deal Parochial Church of England Primary School£7,498
#15Green Park Community Primary School£7,309
#16Ash Cartwright and Kelsey Church of England Primary School£7,209
#17St Margaret's-at-Cliffe Primary School£7,190
#18Hornbeam Primary School£7,102
#19Priory Fields School£6,938
#20Preston Primary School£6,885
#21The Downs Church of England Primary School£6,855
#22St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Aylesham£6,822
#23Northbourne Church of England Primary School£6,763
#24Capel-le-Ferne Primary School£6,649
#25Sandown School£6,563
#26Wingham Primary School£6,562
#27River Primary School£6,545
#28Charlton Church of England Primary School£6,490
#29Shepherdswell Church of England Primary School£6,403
#30Warden House Primary School£6,298
#31Temple Ewell Church of England Primary School£6,227
#32St Martin's School£5,866
#33Vale View Community School£5,835
#34St Richard's Catholic Primary School£5,734
#35Kingsdown and Ringwould Church of England Primary School£5,706
#36Aylesham Primary School£3,934

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

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