About The School
Please read a letter from our Chair of Governors.
Please read our Ofsted Report.
Eastling School, dating back to 1881 on its present site, is a happy, popular village school with a strong community feeling at an exciting stage in its development. It was confirmed as a good school when Ofsted visited in September 2016. The 114 pupils on roll are drawn from Eastling, the surrounding villages, and Faversham, the nearby historic market town. Our parents refer to it as a ‘hidden gem’.
Set in an area of outstanding natural beauty, the school benefits from extensive playing fields, an enclosed, well-equipped playground and outdoor classroom space for reception children and years 1 and 2. These attractive facilities, and the surrounding countryside enable much teaching to take place outside. Though not a church school, the children, and their families enjoy visiting the church for a Christingle service and a Leavers’ service each year.
Our pupils are proud of their school and show an enthusiasm for learning, supported by a highly regarded staff team who work together to achieve the best outcomes for every child. Reception pupils are in a class of 15+, an attractive feature of the school to potential parents, and the further 3 classes are mixed year groups. Innovative and inspiring teaching encourages our children to aim high.
There is a strong sense of community with pupils, staff, headteacher, parents, and governors all working together. The parents’ association, FOES (Friends of Eastling School) is flourishing and arranges a variety of events for the children as well as raising additional funds for the school. It is partly through their support that the school has two minibuses, allowing for a whole class to be taken out at a time on an increased range of trips and visits at a reasonable cost.
Children enjoy a wide range of after school and lunchtime clubs and after school care is available for those who need it. Parents appreciate seeing the headteacher greeting the children in the playground every morning and value highly the weekly ‘Heads Up’ bulletin that is emailed out to parents to keep them up to date with developments.
Behaviour is excellent and our pupils show respect for one another and all adults that they come into contact with. All pupils and staff know one another well with the older pupils acting as ‘buddies’ when children are new to the school. Pupils are caring and concerned for one another and respect one another’s differences. They enjoy taking on extra responsibility as they progress through the school through School Council, Young Mediators and Sports Leaders for example.
With a highly supportive governing body, stable finances and strong links with similar schools through the Rural Swale Collaboration Group our school is at an exciting point of development: ready to embrace change whilst maintaining the caring environment for which it is renowned. We welcome prospective candidates to visit the school and look forward to showing you round.