Grove Park Primary School

Swale · ME10 1PT

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 392 pupils, 30.4% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 15.8% on SEN support Behaviour 5.6% absence rate Staff 28.1% turnover Financials £6,375 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

We haven't asked this school for its behaviour and staffing figures yet. Sign up to tell us you'd like them, and we'll email you when they arrive.

Notify me

Your email address

Leave this empty

We'll email you a link to confirm first. Your address is only used for news about this school, and every email has a link to stop them. Privacy

Grove Park Primary School

General Information

Address: Hilton Drive, Sittingbourne, ME10 1PT – View on map
Phone: 01795477417
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Lauren Flain
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 36 families put it first for 47 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 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

392 pupils out of 420 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 119
% eligible for free school meals: 30.4%
Pupil mix: 4 in 10 (more mixed than the Swale average)
English as an additional language: 16% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 28.1% a year (Swale 18.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 73% moved to another school, 27% 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: 5.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 13.3%
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: 15.8%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 27 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 16 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 13 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Hearing impairment: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
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 –

Be the first to review — win £100 of books for your school Every honest review enters you into our prize draw

Behaviour

–

Openness

–

Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

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.

–

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.

–

Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card June 2026

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 Expected standard
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). 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: 43% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 19 percentage points below the Swale average (62%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 34% against an expected 63%)
3-year average (expected standard): 34%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 59% · Writing 61% · Maths 46% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 56%
Average test scores: reading 103, maths 98
Based on: 61 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 schoolSwale averageEngland↗ Improving Up 16 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 19 percentage points below the Swale average (62%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 37th of 46 junior and primary schools in the area

#35Thistle Hill Academy49%
#36St Mary of Charity CofE (Aided) Primary School45%
=37Grove Park Primary School43%
=37St Edward's Catholic Primary School43%
#39Bapchild and Tonge Church of England Primary School and Nursery40%

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

#1Borden Church of England Primary School94%
#2Minster in Sheppey Primary School89%
#3Sheldwich Primary School88%
#4Queenborough School and Nursery85%
#5Holywell Primary School84%
#6Ethelbert Road Primary School79%
=7Bobbing Village School75%
=7Graveney Primary School75%
#9Boughton-under-Blean and Dunkirk Primary School74%
=10Lansdowne Primary School73%
=10Newington Church of England Primary School73%
=12Halfway Houses Primary School72%
=12Rodmersham School72%
#14Sunny Bank Primary School71%
=15Davington Primary School70%
=15Hernhill Church of England Primary School70%
=17Ospringe Church of England Primary School69%
=17Tunstall Church of England (Aided) Primary School69%
=19Canterbury Road Primary School67%
=19South Avenue Primary School67%
=19St Peter's Catholic Primary School67%
=19Westlands Primary School67%
#23West Minster Primary School66%
#24Richmond Primary School63%
#25St Georges CofE (Aided) Primary School60%
#26Eastling Primary School59%
#27Kemsley Primary Academy57%
#28Bredgar Church of England Primary School56%
#29Minterne Junior School55%
#30Regis Manor Primary School54%
=31Hartlip Endowed Church of England Primary School53%
=31Milton Court Primary Academy53%
#33Iwade School52%
#34Rose Street Primary School51%
#35Thistle Hill Academy49%
#36St Mary of Charity CofE (Aided) Primary School45%
=37Grove Park Primary School43%
=37St Edward's Catholic Primary School43%
#39Bapchild and Tonge Church of England Primary School and Nursery40%
#40Bysing Wood Primary School39%
=41Milstead and Frinsted Church of England Primary School38%
=41Selling Church of England Primary School38%
#43Luddenham School37%
#44Lower Halstow Primary School33%
#45Eastchurch Church of England Primary School25%
#46St. Clement's CofE Primary School15%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,375 (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.

32nd of 46 primary schools in Swale for spending per pupil

#30Davington Primary School£6,404
#31Hernhill Church of England Primary School£6,395
#32Grove Park Primary School£6,375
#33Westlands Primary School£6,277
#34Lansdowne Primary School£6,251

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

#1Milstead and Frinsted Church of England Primary School£11,236
#2Lynsted and Norton Primary School£9,087
#3Selling Church of England Primary School£8,696
#4Richmond Primary School£8,352
#5West Minster Primary School£8,185
#6Bysing Wood Primary School£8,184
#7Eastling Primary School£8,141
#8Rose Street Primary School£7,924
#9Eastchurch Church of England Primary School£7,810
#10Hartlip Endowed Church of England Primary School£7,807
#11Graveney Primary School£7,686
#12Newington Church of England Primary School£7,556
#13Sunny Bank Primary School£7,336
#14Ospringe Church of England Primary School£7,298
#15Thistle Hill Academy£7,196
#16Rodmersham School£7,145
#17St. Clement's CofE Primary School£7,054
#18Canterbury Road Primary School£6,984
#19St Edward's Catholic Primary School£6,951
#20Milton Court Primary Academy£6,924
#21Queenborough School and Nursery£6,868
#22Borden Church of England Primary School£6,847
#23Bredgar Church of England Primary School£6,843
#24St Mary of Charity CofE (Aided) Primary School£6,773
#25South Avenue Primary School£6,649
#26Lower Halstow Primary School£6,622
#27Boughton-under-Blean and Dunkirk Primary School£6,459
#28Luddenham School£6,446
#29Bapchild and Tonge Church of England Primary School and Nursery£6,425
#30Davington Primary School£6,404
#31Hernhill Church of England Primary School£6,395
#32Grove Park Primary School£6,375
#33Westlands Primary School£6,277
#34Lansdowne Primary School£6,251
#35Kemsley Primary Academy£6,050
#36Holywell Primary School£6,024
#37Tunstall Church of England (Aided) Primary School£6,005
#38Regis Manor Primary School£5,954
#39St Georges CofE (Aided) Primary School£5,941
#40Sheldwich Primary School£5,924
#41Ethelbert Road Primary School£5,729
#42Iwade School£5,704
#43Bobbing Village School£5,653
#44Minster in Sheppey Primary School£5,481
#45Halfway Houses Primary School£5,337
#46St Peter's Catholic Primary School£5,105

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

Have you rated Grove Park Primary School yet? Your experience helps other parents.

Rate this school