Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

Folkestone and Hythe · CT19 6QH

General information Primary School · 2-11 years Who goes here 406 pupils, 31.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 17% on SEN support Behaviour 7.4% absence rate Staff 23.2% turnover Financials £6,801 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

General Information

Address: Warren Road, Folkestone, CT19 6QH – View on map
Phone: 01303251390
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Richard Paez
Age range: 2-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 34 families put it first for 34 places – 10 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 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

406 pupils out of 420 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 116
% eligible for free school meals: 31.8%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (similar to the Folkestone and Hythe average)
English as an additional language: 4% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 23.2% a year (Folkestone and Hythe 14.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
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.

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: 7.4%
Persistently absent pupils: 20.6%
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: 17.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.5%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 20 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 19 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 11 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 11 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Speech, language and communications needs: 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

Ofsted report card November 2025

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Needs attention
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 59% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 5% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 5 percentage points below the Folkestone and Hythe average (64%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 52% against an expected 52%)
3-year average (expected standard): 52%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 69% · Writing 72% · Maths 72% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 67%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 104
Based on: 58 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 schoolFolkestone and Hythe averageEngland↗ Improving Up 19 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 5 percentage points below the Folkestone and Hythe average (64%).

Year 6 SATs: 24th of 36 junior and primary schools in the area

=22Elham Church of England Primary School60%
=22Folkestone, St Peter's Church of England Primary School60%
#24Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy59%
#25Martello Primary57%
=26Lydd Primary School56%

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

#1Stowting Church of England Primary School100%
#2Lympne Church of England Primary School88%
#3Seabrook Church of England Primary School81%
#4Bodsham Church of England Primary School79%
=5Christ Church Cep Academy, Folkestone76%
=5Hawkinge Primary School76%
=7Morehall Primary School and Nursery75%
=7Sandgate Primary School75%
#9Folkestone, St Martin's Church of England Primary School73%
#10Stelling Minnis Church of England Primary School71%
=11Cheriton Primary School68%
=11St Eanswythe's Church of England Primary School68%
=13Brookland Church of England Primary School67%
=13Palmarsh Primary School67%
=13St Augustine's Catholic Primary School67%
#16The Churchill School66%
=17Brenzett Church of England Primary School64%
=17Folkestone Primary64%
#19Saltwood CofE Primary School63%
=20All Soul's Church of England Primary School61%
=20Stella Maris Catholic Primary School61%
=22Elham Church of England Primary School60%
=22Folkestone, St Peter's Church of England Primary School60%
#24Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy59%
#25Martello Primary57%
=26Lydd Primary School56%
=26Mundella Primary School56%
=26Selsted Church of England Primary School56%
=26St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy56%
#30Dymchurch Primary School55%
=31Castle Hill Community Primary School54%
=31Harcourt Primary School54%
#33Lyminge Church of England Primary School50%
#34Hythe Bay CofE Primary School49%
#35Sellindge Primary School48%
#36Greatstone Primary School43%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,801 (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.

20th of 33 primary schools in Folkestone and Hythe for spending per pupil

#18Dymchurch Primary School£6,881
#19St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy£6,871
#20Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy£6,801
#21Palmarsh Primary School£6,653
#22St Eanswythe's Church of England Primary School£6,540

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

#1Folkestone, St Peter's Church of England Primary School£11,138
#2Stelling Minnis Church of England Primary School£10,690
#3Hythe Bay CofE Primary School£9,226
#4Bodsham Church of England Primary School£9,088
#5Elham Church of England Primary School£8,654
#6Castle Hill Community Primary School£8,409
#7Brookland Church of England Primary School£8,052
#8Mundella Primary School£8,047
#9Stowting Church of England Primary School£7,851
#10Brenzett Church of England Primary School£7,760
#11Selsted Church of England Primary School£7,587
#12Greatstone Primary School£7,438
#13Harcourt Primary School£7,273
#14Folkestone, St Martin's Church of England Primary School£7,262
#15Lydd Primary School£7,089
#16Seabrook Church of England Primary School£6,997
#17Christ Church Cep Academy, Folkestone£6,954
#18Dymchurch Primary School£6,881
#19St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy£6,871
#20Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy£6,801
#21Palmarsh Primary School£6,653
#22St Eanswythe's Church of England Primary School£6,540
#23St Augustine's Catholic Primary School£6,354
#24Cheriton Primary School£6,297
#25All Soul's Church of England Primary School£6,228
#26The Churchill School£6,150
#27Sellindge Primary School£6,117
#28Sandgate Primary School£6,112
#29Lyminge Church of England Primary School£6,054
#30Lympne Church of England Primary School£6,041
#31Saltwood CofE Primary School£5,916
#32Hawkinge Primary School£5,861
#33Stella Maris Catholic Primary School£5,773

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

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