Rustington Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Rustington Community Primary is a good school.

The effective curriculum and good teaching enthuse pupils. They enjoy school and have very good attitudes to learning working hard in lessons so that they achieve well. Effective induction procedures help reception children get off to a good start and good progress continues throughout the school.

By the end of Year 6 attainment in English and mathematics is above average although in writing, pupils' work is not always well presented. Effective safeguarding arrangements help ensure that pupils are well cared for and they receive good support and guidance for their individual needs. Specific programmes to support pupils who have special educationa...l needs and/or disabilities or who speak English as an additional language and those with specific gifts or talents are good.

As a result, these pupils achieve as well as their classmates. Pupils' moral and social development is a strength and their behaviour is outstanding. Pupils are very friendly and helpful and contribute well to the school and community life.

These attributes support learning exceptionally well. The relatively new systems for assessing and tracking pupils' progress provide a very clear picture of how well pupils are doing and support their progress well. This also helps ensure that self-evaluation is rigorous and accurate so that the school is fully aware of where progress is weaker and the reasons for this.

Development planning is well targeted to successfully address weaknesses. As a result, progress in Years 1 and 2 has improved and attainment is rising. In Years 3 to 6 rising attainment is being maintained and there is no significant difference in the achievement of different ability groups due to the good level of challenge and support.

Governors are strongly committed to supporting the school and play a major role in helping to improve the way the school promotes community cohesion. However, their role in supporting the strategic direction of the school is underdeveloped. The headteacher is a very effective leader who has generated a strong commitment and enthusiasm among staff.

They have worked well together to improve the school since its last inspection, with their success seen in the improved teaching and rising attainment. This gives the school a good capacity to improve further. Partnerships with parents and carers and other schools and agencies are good and support pupils' education and welfare well.

The curriculum is rich and interesting and provides many opportunities for clubs, visits and visitors. Careful thought has been given to providing activities for the range of pupils' needs although not all teachers consistently take sufficient account of emerging assessment information when planning lesson activities. Despite this, teaching is good and occasionally outstanding.

Teachers' subject knowledge is very secure and they explain and demonstrate things clearly. However, in some lessons there is too much teacher talk and not enough time is spent on well-focused questioning of pupils. There is also some variation in the contribution made by teaching assistants, largely because of changes in the age groups they work with and insufficient direction on how to support learning throughout lessons.

Information about the school

Rustington Community is a large school with two classes in each year group. The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage and very few speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average.

These pupils' needs mainly relate to specific and moderate learning, behavioural, emotional and social needs and visual impairment. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low. The school has Healthy School status and the Activemark award.

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