Fletching Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Fletching Church of England Primary School Church Street, Fletching, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 3SP

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 5 and 6 July 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Fletching Church of England Primary School is, as its vision states, ‘a small school with big ideas’. Staff create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Pupils feel part of the school family. They are given rich experiences beyond the curriculum that include community gardening projects and working with residents of the local care home. This helps to develop pupils’ character and grow their talents and interests.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for pupils. Staff across the two schools in the federation work together, building a network of support that broadens opportunities for pupils. Leaders use the school values to drive the curriculum. Staff give pupils rich experiences both within lessons and beyond the classroom. All pupils develop the skills and knowledge that prepare them well for their next steps.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. This is because leaders have established routines that help pupils to understand the expectations of them. Pupils enjoy breaktimes and play positively with one another. If bullying takes place, adults act swiftly to resolve this. Pupils feel safe. They know they can place a concern in the class worry box or talk to a trusted adult who will help them.

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better?

Leaders provide an ambitious curriculum with strong sequencing that is meaningful and relevant to the pupils. It is supported by effective subject leadership and good teacher subject knowledge. From the early years onwards, teachers help pupils to build essential knowledge. Staff cater well for the needs of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) across the school. Teachers adapt lessons to help pupils to achieve the best possible outcomes. As a result, all pupils develop the knowledge and skills needed across the curriculum.

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better?

Leaders use current educational research to guide practice and provide training for staff. Teachers adapt the curriculum to help pupils to embed and use what they have learned. As an example, teachers creatively encourage pupils to reflect on what they have learned over the past weeks. This helps pupils to use what they know to help them in what they are now learning.

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better?

However, opportunities for pupils to reflect on more distant learning are limited. This means they sometimes forget about what they have learned previously in some subjects. The quality of pupils’ work is not consistently strong in all subjects. Leaders’ work to assure themselves and governors about pupils’ learning over time in subjects beyond reading and mathematics is not fully embedded.

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better?

Leaders have produced a well-structured reading curriculum. Teachers help the youngest pupils to build strong phonic skills and encourage them to use what they learn to help them to read unfamiliar words. As pupils move through the school, teachers create an environment that helps them to develop their fluency in reading and gain a love of reading. Staff support pupils who have fallen behind in their 5 and 6 July 2022

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reading to catch up quickly, for example by providing small-group sessions. Pupils use what they learn in reading lessons to strengthen their spelling and writing across the curriculum.

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Staff encourage pupils to build strong and positive relationships with one another. From the early years, children show kindness towards one another because this is modelled by both adults and older pupils. If pupils become distracted in lessons, teachers deal with this sensitively and help pupils to regain their focus. This ensures that pupils’ behaviour does not disrupt lessons.

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The provision for personal development is exceptional. Staff provide rich opportunities for pupils to think carefully about and debate local and global issues. The school goes beyond what is expected to give pupils rich opportunities to develop as responsible, respectful and active citizens. Staff make sure pupils have a strong voice in this school and a deep understanding of democracy. For example, pupils elected to the school’s pupil parliament worked with school leaders to improve the awareness of disability and diversity across the school. There is a strong uptake in extra-curricular activities. These considerably enrich the pupils’ experience. As an example, pupils requested a sign language club to develop their interest in understanding diversity. Disadvantaged pupils are given priority in joining clubs and consistently benefit from this.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure staff receive training that helps them to recognise when pupils are at risk of harm. Leaders act on concerns swiftly and work closely with families to get the help they need. This includes working with agencies beyond the school to keep children safe.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know how to stay safe online. This is because leaders have thought carefully about what pupils need to know and have built this into the curriculum. Staff help pupils to know about the risks posed online and in the ever-changing landscape of social media. There is a strong culture of safeguarding throughout the school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The monitoring of pupils’ learning over time is not consistently strong across all subjects. As a result, pupils’ work is not always of high quality. Leaders need to ensure that checks are in place to assure themselves that pupils retain and build on their learning over time across the curriculum and that governors have an accurate picture of achievement. 5 and 6 July 2022

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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 .

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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. 5 and 6 July 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10241761 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Jenny Barnard-Langsdown

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School details

Headteacher Gemma White (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 April 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a Church of England primary.  The school’s religious character was inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 on 14 June 2017.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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 executive headteacher, head of school, inclusion lead, subject leaders a representative from the local authority and a representative from the diocese. The inspectors also met with four members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, history, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to 5 and 6 July 2022

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some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspectors also considered the curriculum in other subjects.  The inspectors reviewed a wide range of documents including those related to the governance of the school.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspectors met with the designated safeguarding lead and considered safeguarding documents and records. This included the school’s records and plans for supporting pupils who have been referred to outside agencies.

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Inspection team

Graham Chisnell, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Joyce Lydford Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 July 2022

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