Lawn Primary School

Inspection of Lawn Primary School High Street, Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent DA11 9HB

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 1 and 2 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

This school cares deeply for its pupils. Pupils are happy and safe. Staff are compassionate and cater for pupils’ emotional needs well. Children in the early years form positive relationships with one another. Playtimes are engaging and happy times for pupils. They spend time on the school nurture bus and grow plants in the garden area. Pupils relish taking on roles of responsibility. For example, pupils appointed as ‘Commander Joes’ support pupils to play a range of games during playtime. As a result, pupils return to class refreshed and ready to learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils. There is a keen desire for pupils to enjoy their time in class. Learning is purposeful and staff support pupils to succeed. For example, pupils produce beautiful artwork and have exhibited this at a local art gallery. Pupils show interest and enthusiasm in what they learn. As a result, pupils gain the knowledge and skills they need to transfer to the next phase of their education confidently.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are courteous and behave well. They are respectful towards staff. They uphold the school’s value of compassion. They show respect, kindness and empathy towards one another.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school provides a curriculum that meets the needs and interests of the pupils well. Since the previous inspection, the school has refined the curriculum. Leaders are effective. They provide training for teachers that helps them to enhance the way that they teach. They check that teachers deliver the curriculum and support them in how to improve their practice. Governors undertake curriculum review visits to evaluate how the curriculum is being delivered. The school welcomes support from schools across the Northfleet Schools Co-Operative Trust. This helps the school to act diligently on improvements needed. The school ensures that curriculum changes do not overwhelm staff. As such, staff say that their workload is manageable.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Early reading and mathematics are prioritised. Outcomes in reading and mathematics in 2024 were below national figures. The school has acted decisively to address this. Teachers develop the oracy of children in the early years through songs and rhymes. Engaging activities embed children’s mathematical knowledge. The school supports older pupils who fall behind with their reading to catch up swiftly. This helps pupils to become fluent and confident readers. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Staff accurately identify pupils’ needs. They provide helpful adaptations to ensure that pupils embed their mathematical knowledge. However, adaptations are less refined in the recently introduced reading programme. This is because, on occasion, teachers do not provide an appropriate level of challenge in reading activities that match pupils’ specific needs. As a result, some pupils do not make the

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

progress they are capable of in developing their reading skills.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. Early years staff provide a vibrant range of activities. They play alongside children and encourage meaningful learning. As a result, 1 and 2 July 2025

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children achieve well and develop the foundational knowledge needed to transfer to key stage 1 confidently. Pupils develop their knowledge across a range of subjects well. This is because teachers are clear about what pupils need to learn. Teachers ask questions to check what pupils know and guide pupils to use and apply new vocabulary they have learned. They provide quizzes that guide pupils to recall important knowledge. This helps pupils to secure what they have learned and apply this to new learning. However, teachers do not routinely ensure that pupils maintain the high quality of writing across all subjects. This means that the quality of writing produced in some subjects does not match the ambition seen in English books. As such, some pupils do not rehearse and embed the writing skills needed to be confident writers.

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Pupils behave well in class. The school sets high expectations for behaviour and supports pupils to adhere to these. When pupils occasionally misbehave, staff support them to think through their actions. This helps pupils to improve their behaviour. The school supports pupils’ emotional needs exceptionally well. Trained practitioners provide therapeutic support in the school’s ‘Nest’ provision for pupils who struggle to manage their emotions.

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The school has robust systems in place for monitoring and tracking pupils’ attendance. While some pupils have high levels of absence, the school knows the reasons for this. It builds trusting relationships with families and supports them to improve their children’s attendance.

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The school enriches pupils’ character well. For example, pupils across key stage 2 attend residential events. This helps to build pupils’ confidence and teamwork. The school invites members of the local community to speak with pupils. For example, members of local emergency services and visitors speak to pupils about a range of careers in the community. This raises aspirations in pupils and connects what they learn in school with future careers.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, teachers do not ensure that reading activities are appropriately matched to pupils’ needs. As a result, some pupils do not make the progress they are capable of in developing their reading skills. The school should ensure that reading tasks are more precisely adapted to meet pupils’ needs so they are supported to build their reading knowledge effectively.  While teachers have ambition for pupils’ writing in the English curriculum, this is not always applied when writing in wider subjects. As such, pupils do not routinely apply what they learn in writing when writing across the curriculum. This means that the 1 and 2 July 2025

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quality of writing produced in some subjects does not match the ambition seen in English books. Teachers should ensure that pupils’ writing across the curriculum is as ambitious as that seen in their English workbooks.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 1 and 2 July 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 10 and 11 January 2023, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Lawn Primary School is part of Northfleet Schools Co-Operative Trust. This is a collaborative group of six schools. The trust is not responsible for the governance of this school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 1 and 2 July 2025

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, members of the governing body, other leaders and a range of staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, art and design, history and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documents, including those related to governance of the school.  Inspectors spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors considered the views of parents and carers through their responses to

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Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. Inspectors spoke to staff and considered the views of staff and pupils in the staff and pupil surveys. Inspectors spoke to pupils and parents during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Graham Chisnell, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Oliver Allen Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 July 2025

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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