Crowhurst CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Crowhurst CofE Primary School Forewood Lane, Crowhurst, Battle, East Sussex TN33 9AJ

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Outcome

Crowhurst CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive in this friendly primary school. They show care for one another and are respectful of others. Pupils are engaging, confident and witty in conversation. They feel valued and listened to by the adults in the school. They uphold the school’s values to love their neighbour and love the world.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They build strong friendships with one another and with adults. Staff and parents say pupils feel safe. Pupils trust adults to resolve any worries that they have. Pupils say that when bullying happens, adults work quickly to put things right.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning across the curriculum. This is shown by the work they produce in books and in work displayed on walls around the school. Expectations are high for pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils. They develop a love of story and build their reading skills as they move through the school. Pupils use their reading and mathematical skills across a wide range of subjects. This helps them to strengthen their understanding and builds their enjoyment of what they learn. They are inspired by what they learn, leading them to think carefully about the world they live in.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Subject leaders map out what pupils need to learn in each subject. They share essential knowledge with teachers for each topic taught. This helps teachers to reflect on what pupils need to remember. Teachers make sure pupils connect what they already know to new learning. In most subjects, teachers carefully check pupils’ understanding. They work hard to fill the gaps in pupils’ knowledge that have appeared during the COVID-19 pandemic. While this works well in subjects such as science, it is not yet fully developed across all subjects. 9 March 2022

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Teachers build a sense of curiosity, exploration and enjoyment in pupils. They make sure that pupils are clear about what they need to learn and remember. Pupils are encouraged to talk about what they learn, helping them to build their vocabulary and strengthen their understanding. They enjoy lessons and build a strong body of knowledge about what they learn.

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Pupils enjoy reading. They build essential reading skills and develop a love of reading as they move through the school. Children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 have daily phonics lessons that help them to recognise the sounds that letters make. Staff support pupils who find reading difficult through extra phonics lessons. As pupils move through the school, they build fluency in reading. However, a few do not because there are some inconsistencies in the choice of books that pupils take home to practise their reading skills. Leaders are aware of this and have improvements in hand.

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Pupils behave well in this school. Both staff and parents are rightly proud of the pupils’ behaviour. Leaders have highly effective rules and routines that help pupils know what is expected of them. Pupils have very positive relationships with one another and with adults. If pupils misbehave, there are clear systems in place to help them to improve. Pupils reflect thoughtfully on their own beliefs and are respectful of the beliefs of others.

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School leaders widen pupils’ horizons through activities beyond the curriculum. These include music tuition, sports specialists and themed days. Pupils develop an understanding of social and cultural issues through assemblies and lessons. Teachers encourage pupils to think carefully and compassionately about global issues that impact on their lives. This has led to pupils fundraising and championing ecological initiatives within the school.

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The identification and support for pupils with SEND is strong. School leaders have trained staff in areas such as emotional literacy, to make sure that pupils with SEND are supported both in class and when at play. Teachers adapt lessons to support the needs of pupils. As a result, pupils with SEND can learn the same curriculum as their classmates.

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Staff enjoy working at the school and feel valued. They say that leaders help them to manage their workload. Governors have a clear understanding of what the school needs to do to improve. They make regular visits to the school to meet with leaders to make sure the plans for improvement are being followed through.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

School leaders create a culture where pupils feel safe. Leaders make sure that staff receive training that helps them to identify pupils who need help. Staff act on concerns quickly to help pupils to stay safe. School staff help pupils and families who need support at difficult times. The school has well-established links with outside agencies and, when needed, readily seeks their support. 9 March 2022

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Governors check that policies and procedures are up to date. Pupils learn about different risks and how to manage them. This includes an age-appropriate understanding of keeping safe when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers’ checks on what pupils know and remember are not yet fully matched to the sequence of learning planned in some subjects. As such, teachers are not necessarily clear whether pupils are making the small gains in learning they need to reach end points at the end of a topic or series of lessons. Leaders should continue to refine the use of assessment across the foundation subjects, enabling teachers to make accurate assessments of pupils’ progress.  The books that pupils take home to read are not always chosen carefully enough to help pupils rehearse the reading skills they have been taught in lessons. Leaders should continue with plans to introduce a new phonics programme with phonetically decodable texts and ensure that pupils are better guided when selecting books from the school library.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 9 March 2022

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 9 March 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a Church of England (controlled) primary school.  The school’s religious character was last inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 in November 2019.  The school has four classes, taught in mixed year groups.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, the head of school, subject leaders, a representative from the diocese, a representative from the local authority, the chair of governors and three governors.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and science. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject 9 March 2022

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leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors reviewed governance documents and spoke to curriculum leaders about other subjects.  The inspectors met with the safeguarding lead and a governor responsible for safeguarding. The inspectors looked at the school’s records for safeguarding and plans for supporting pupils who have been referred to safeguarding services.

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Inspection team

Graham Chisnell, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Kirstine Boon Ofsted Inspector 9 March 2022

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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