Northwood Primary School

About Northwood Primary School

Northwood Primary School is a mixed state primary in the London borough of Bexley, serving 172 pupils aged 4 to 11 under headteacher Tracy Drohan. It sits within a local authority that contains 61 primary schools, 11 of which hold an Outstanding Ofsted rating. Northwood itself ranks 47th among those 61 schools on the key stage 2 expected standard measure, placing it in the bottom half of Bexley primaries. The highest-performing local peers are St Thomas More Catholic Primary, St John Fisher Catholic Primary and St Stephen's Catholic Primary, all of which score significantly higher on the same metric. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is St John Fisher, just half a kilometre away. Northwood is a non-denominational school with no religious character, and its intake reflects a notably high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 44.2 per cent, well above the national average. The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, receiving 45 applications for 12 places, with all 12 first-preference applicants offered a spot.

In its most recent graded inspection, carried out in 2011, Ofsted rated Northwood Good overall, with Good marks for leadership and management and early years provision. An ungraded inspection in July 2025 confirmed that standards are being maintained. This represents a clear improvement from the school's previous graded inspection in 2008, when it was rated Requires Improvement. At key stage 2 in 2023/24, 50 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Bexley local authority average of 67 per cent. In individual subjects, 63 per cent met expectations in maths and writing, and 60 per cent in reading. The proportion reaching the higher standard was 10 per cent across all three subjects, with 17 per cent achieving higher in maths and reading. Average scaled scores were 103 in both reading and maths. Nationally, the school ranks 10,700th out of 13,686 primaries, placing it in the bottom quarter.

The school offers a broad set of facilities including playing fields, a library, ICT suite, art studios, music rooms and a chapel. Sports provision covers rounders, dance, netball, cross country, swimming and tennis, while clubs include science, coding, chess and choir. SEND support is available for social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication difficulties, hearing impairment, physical disability, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties. Parent View responses from 28 families, collected between September 2024 and September 2025, show strong satisfaction: 93 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy, and 90 per cent that their child feels safe. However, 18 per cent would not recommend the school to another parent. With a small intake and high demand for places, Northwood suits families seeking a community-focused primary in Bexley with a strong pastoral emphasis and a wide range of extracurricular opportunities, particularly those who value the school's inclusive SEND provision and its recent Ofsted trajectory.

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