Forest Row Church of England Primary School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

A strong sense of belonging is at the heart of Forest Row school. Pupils are happy and engaged in the broad and exciting curriculum.

This is enhanced by the variety of clubs and visits that are carefully linked to what pupils are learning. There is a highly inclusive ethos where every pupil is treated as an individual.

Pupils feel safe and are confident that the adults who work with them will help and support them.

Disruption to learning is rare. Pupils are supported effectively through the new behaviour policy. This includes any pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) who may need additional support to manage their behaviour.
.../>Bullying is taken seriously and swift and effective action is taken in the rare instances it occurs.

The school has high expectations for every pupil, academically and personally. Pupils are keen to live up to these expectations.

The 'Forest Row 10 things' provides a clear framework of aspirations for pupils to achieve and experience during their time at Forest Row school. These include a focus on developing resilience and a love of reading. As a result, pupils in Year 6 get the support they need to be well-rounded learners, ready to move on to secondary school.

Pupils are particularly passionate about the recent development of sports across the school. Every pupil has access to high-quality coaching. This has resulted in celebrated sporting achievements in local competitions.

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

The school is highly ambitious for every pupil at this school. Pupils with the most complex SEND have very strong provision and carefully considered support to help them learn well across the curriculum. The school has prioritised high-quality training for all staff.

As a result, teachers have expert knowledge in the different subjects that they teach. Teachers have a clear understanding of what pupils need to be taught and when. However, there is still a small number of pupils who require more precise support to ensure they achieve consistently well in every subject.

Reading is a high priority at this school. There has been swift action by the new leadership team to embed the phonics programme. There is now a sharp focus on ensuring all pupils are successfully learning to read.

High-quality coaching for staff is ensuring more pupils are confident and fluent readers. The school has fostered a love of reading across the school, which starts right from the early years. High-quality texts are mapped out across each year group to enhance pupils' understanding of the different subjects that they are learning about.

Enticing book corners and a well-stocked library build on every pupil's interest in books.

The quality and success of the current daily learning does not reflect the previously published outcomes. The new leadership team has set high expectations for all pupils to achieve.

Pupils' current learning reflects the school's increased expectations and focus on pupils' achievement. This starts right from the early years, where children's interests are expertly woven into what they learn and explore. Rich vocabulary is modelled by staff and the environment has been thoughtfully developed to help children learn successfully across all areas of learning.

Pupils across the school show excellent behaviour. Strong relationships between pupils and staff are the foundation of this. The extensive pastoral support on offer ensures that pupils get the right help to resolve any worries or concerns.

This supports all pupils to access the curriculum. Attendance is a high priority. The school knows each family well.

It consistently looks for ways to reduce any barriers that stop pupils from attending. The school has carefully analysed why pupils are absent from school and identified actions it can take to improve attendance. Despite these efforts, there are still too many pupils who are not attending school regularly enough.

This means that they are missing out on crucial learning. The school is continuing to focus on these pupils through providing targeted support.

Wider curriculum opportunities such as clubs, trips and visitors are successfully woven throughout the whole-school curriculum.

These opportunities enhance what pupils are learning within different subjects. The school ensures that disadvantaged pupils benefit the most from these opportunities. Pupils talk excitedly about the leadership responsibilities they are given, such as the 'worship welcomers' and as part of the school council.

The school has established an inclusive environment where pupils are respectful and sensitive towards each other's differences. Pupils' character has been thoughtfully developed through a focus on oracy and developing confidence. This is embedded from the start of the early years.

The new leadership team has driven rapid and sustained change at this school. As a result, the education provided is having more of a positive impact on pupils' learning. The school has successfully balanced these improvements alongside promoting staff well-being and supporting workload.

The school ensures parents feel listened to and an integral part of their children's learning. The newly formed federation and governance arrangements further enhance the support for the school to embed the most recent improvements.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils are not yet attending school as regularly as they should. As a result, they are missing out on crucial learning. The school needs to continue to implement its actions to support the improvement in attendance for these pupils.

Currently, for a small number of pupils, there is variability in how precisely they are given the support and activities they need to learn the intended curriculum. This means that these pupils are not yet achieving as well as they could in every subject. The school needs to ensure that staff have the required expertise to put support in place to enable all pupils to learn well across the full curriculum.