Kingsclere Church of England Primary School

About Kingsclere Church of England Primary School

Kingsclere Church of England Primary School sits within Hampshire local authority, in the Basingstoke and Deane area, and is one of 425 primary schools of its type in the county. Among local peers, it ranks behind Preston Candover Church of England Primary School, Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Primary School, and St Faith's Church of England Primary School, which are the top three in the area by ranking score. The school itself ranks 147th within Hampshire, placing it in the bottom half of primary schools locally. It is a state-funded, mixed-gender Church of England school for children aged 4 to 11, with a current roll of 201 pupils against a capacity of 266, meaning there is some room for growth. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 19.4%, which is a useful indicator of the school's intake. Headteacher Joanna Messenger leads the school, which has held a Good rating from Ofsted across its recent inspections, most recently an ungraded visit in November 2024 that confirmed standards were maintained.

Academically, Kingsclere's Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 year show that 61% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which matches the Hampshire local authority average of 61%. This places the school 18th out of 40 primary schools in Basingstoke and Deane, and 1049th out of 2034 in the South East region. Looking at individual subjects, reading saw 85% of pupils reach the expected standard and 33% achieve a higher score, while maths had 73% at expected and 21% at a higher level. Writing at expected standard was also 73%, with 12% reaching greater depth. Average scores were 106 in reading and 104 in maths. The school's most recent graded inspection, in January 2019, rated overall effectiveness as Good, with leadership and management, and early years provision also judged Good. The previous inspection in 2015 had also rated the school Good overall, with leadership and management at the same level and early years provision rated Requires Improvement at that time.

The school offers a range of facilities including an ICT suite, forest school area, sports hall, library, art studios, outdoor playground and a chapel. Sports on offer include dance, tennis, football, cricket and rounders, while clubs extend to art, chess, gardening and film club. For children with additional needs, the school provides support for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses, collected between September 2024 and September 2025, were overwhelmingly positive: 94% of the 48 respondents would recommend the school, and 98% strongly agreed or agreed that their child is happy. For the 2025/26 admissions round, the school was oversubscribed, with 41 applications for 29 places and 28 first-preference offers made. This is a school that suits families looking for a Church of England primary with strong parental satisfaction and a broad range of extracurricular activities, set within a village context in Basingstoke and Deane.

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