Sandown Primary School and Nursery

DRAFT - not for publication Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Sandown Primary School and Nursery The Ridge, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 2AA

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 January 2025

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Outcome

Sandown Primary School and Nursery has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to this highly inclusive school. Sandown Primary School is an integral part of the local community. Staff have created a nurturing environment so that pupils feel safe and listened to. Pupils understand their emotions, and staff help pupils to feel calm and ready for learning. Pupils’ achievement is strong each year because staff focus well on the areas that make the most difference to pupils’ understanding.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has extremely high expectations of behaviour based around pupils becoming lifelong learners. Pupils play together happily on the playground, showing tolerance and respect for one another. Through the many ways that the school seeks their views, pupils feel truly listened to. As a result, pupils’ behaviour is exemplary and disruption to learning is very rare.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils across the school love taking on the different leadership roles. These opportunities help pupils to learn about and value being responsible citizens who have an important role in their school community. For example, pupils become digital leaders and help others understand how to stay safe online. Pupils also benefit from the numerous sporting events the school takes part in, such as netball and tri-golf.

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

The school are highly ambitious for all pupils, staff and the community that they serve. They prioritise staff workload and well-being. The governing body fulfils their statutory duties with expertise, ensuring they appropriately challenge leaders to further develop the 28–29 January 2025

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school. This focus on improvement is reflected in the strong published outcomes over the past three years.

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The school continues to develop their curriculum to further address the gaps in knowledge identified for the high number of disadvantaged pupils in the school. As a result, these pupils are achieving well. All pupils have a secure base from which to move on in their learning. The school has designed a well-sequenced curriculum that meets all pupils’ needs. It sets out the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn at each stage, including in the early years.

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The school prioritises developing pupils’ knowledge so that they can read, write and use key mathematical facts fluently. This begins in the early years where pupils make a strong start. Well-trained staff help pupils to build their communication and language skills. The school ensures that pupils do not fall behind and gain the knowledge they need to read fluently. Key vocabulary is introduced in all lessons. Pupils get many opportunities to practise using these words in different ways and subjects. This practice continues throughout the school. Consequently, pupils become more fluent readers, writers and mathematicians. They use this knowledge successfully across the curriculum.

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Staff display strong subject knowledge. This helps them to explain and model ideas well to pupils. In many lessons, the school ensures that pupils have understood what is being taught. They support pupils to address any mistakes or misunderstandings they may have. However, sometimes these checks are not carried out consistently enough. This means that some pupils’ mistakes are not identified and addressed as quickly as they could be.

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Pupils focus really well on their learning. The school develops pupils’ ‘essential skills’ such as problem-solving. This helps staff teach the pupils how to be a successful learner. Staff consistently apply the school routines and procedures, based around the school’s vision and values. The school works effectively with parents and external agencies. This helps pupils who need support to improve their behaviour. As a result, pupils learn how to adapt their behaviour in different situations effectively. The school checks pupils’ attendance rigorously. When attendance dips, it acts swiftly to address this. As a result, pupils’ attendance is above national average for all groups of pupils.

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Pupils’ personal development is exceptional. It helps promote a deep sense of belonging in the pupils. The school provides extremely strong welfare and pastoral support steered by the school’s values. The school’s extensive nurture provision identifies and addresses the social and emotional needs of each pupil effectively. The school fosters aspiration in the pupils by encouraging them to ‘aim high’. This is shown through events such as the yearly job fair. All pupils get the chance to learn about different jobs, such as a cleaner and a police person. Pupils talk with a deep understanding about relationships, growing up and what it means to be healthy.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 28–29 January 2025

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What does the school need to do to improve?

 At times, the school does not consistently check that pupils have fully understood what has been taught. As a result, some misconceptions are not always identified and addressed as quickly as they could be, which can slow pupils’ learning. The school needs to refine its strategies to ensure that all pupils’ misconceptions are identified and addressed as they arise.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in May 2016.

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and 28–29 January 2025

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protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 28–29 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 10 and 11 March 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses no alternative provision.  The school has provision for two-year olds and three-year olds.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector spoke to senior school staff, subject leaders, members of the school governing board and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ books.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered 28–29 January 2025

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The inspector considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. He also took into consideration the online staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Neil Pilsworth, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 28–29 January 2025

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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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