La Fontaine Academy

About La Fontaine Academy

La Fontaine Academy is a state primary school in Bromley that parents are clearly keen to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 261 applications for 86 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.03, meaning more than three families applied for every spot. Of those, 75 were first-preference applications, and the school made 75 first-preference offers. This level of demand suggests a strong local reputation, and the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2024 awarded it an overall rating of Outstanding, a step up from its previous Good rating in 2017. Inspectors judged every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — as Outstanding. The school is led by headteacher Michael Tirrell and serves 451 pupils aged 4 to 11, with a capacity of 630, so there is some room to grow.

Academically, La Fontaine Academy performs very strongly. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 93% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, well above the Bromley local authority average of 69%. The school ranks 2nd out of 69 primary schools in Bromley, placing it in the top 5% nationally. A fifth of pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects, while 63% reached the higher standard in maths, 60% in reading and 25% in writing. Average scaled scores were 111 in maths and 110 in reading, comfortably above the national benchmark of 100. The school does not publish progress scores for reading, writing or maths, so it is not possible to say how much value it adds relative to pupils' starting points, but the raw outcomes are among the best in the borough.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a sports hall, playing fields, gymnasium, music rooms and a dining hall. Sports on offer include netball, athletics, swimming, tennis, cricket, cross country and rounders, while clubs include film club, coding, drama, choir and chess. The school has identified SEND provisions for pupils with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, speech, language and communication needs, social, emotional and mental health needs, multi-sensory impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. With 10.2% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively affluent catchment but is not exclusively so. For families seeking a high-performing, oversubscribed primary with strong academic outcomes and a wide extracurricular offer, La Fontaine Academy is a compelling choice, though securing a place will require a timely application.

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