Grove Park Primary School

About Grove Park Primary School

Grove Park Primary School’s headline metrics sit well below the Kent local authority average for primary schools. While the LA average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (RWM) at Key Stage 2 is 63%, Grove Park’s figure is just 32%. That places the school 47th out of 48 primary schools in Swale, in the bottom 2% nationally. Its overall Ofsted rating of Requires Improvement, from a May 2023 inspection, reflects this — every category, from quality of education to behaviour and attitudes, was judged as requiring improvement. The school’s previous inspection in 2013 rated it Good, so this represents a clear decline. For parents weighing up options, the contrast with the LA average is stark: Grove Park is significantly underperforming relative to its peers in Kent.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the picture is mixed by subject. In reading, 60% of pupils met the expected standard and 17% reached a higher standard — both figures are reasonable, though still below the LA average. In maths, 52% achieved the expected standard, with 12% reaching the higher standard. Writing is where the school struggles most: only 38% met the expected standard, and no pupils achieved the higher standard. The average scaled scores were 103 in reading and 101 in maths, which are close to the national average of 100 but don’t compensate for the low RWM combined figure. The school’s ranking score of 32 out of 100 on the KS2 RWM metric places it in the bottom 50 nationally. With no progress scores available, it’s hard to say how much value the school adds, but the raw outcomes suggest significant room for improvement.

Grove Park is a mixed, state primary for ages 4 to 11, with 400 pupils on roll against a capacity of 420. It is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 106 applications for 45 places, with 44 first-preference offers made. The school has a relatively high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 27.5%. Facilities include a sports hall, playing fields, art studios, an ICT suite, a library, music rooms, an outdoor playground and a chapel. Sports on offer include gymnastics, netball, dance, swimming, cross country and cricket, while clubs cover coding, drama and chess. The school provides SEND support for dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language difficulties, hearing and visual impairments, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families who prioritise strong academic outcomes, Grove Park’s results may give pause, but its broad facilities and SEND provision could suit those who value a well-resourced environment. The nearest outstanding-rated primary is Tunstall Church of England Primary, 2.9 km away.

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