Sissinghurst Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School

Overview

Leaders have “transformed this school,” rapidly addressing previous weaknesses to create an environment where pupils “thrive” and “run into school happily every morning.” The inspection highlights a “well-taught curriculum” and strong leadership, with the early years provision described as providing an “exceptionally positive start.”

Strengths

• The curriculum is “well-planned and carefully sequenced,” with staff demonstrating “strong subject expertise” supported by professional networks.
• Pupils behave “especially well,” fostering a community based on “kindness” and taking responsibility for supporting younger peers.
• Reading is a “central priority,” with phonics taught well and effective interventions helping children read with “increasing accuracy and confidence.”
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are “well supported,” with staff adapting input to ensure they “achieve well.”
• Governors “hold leaders to account well,” making careful checks to ensure improvements have the necessary impact.

Areas to improve

• In some foundation subjects, pupils are “not consistently supported to retain their knowledge over time,” meaning they struggle to recall previous learning or connect it to current topics.
• Leaders must ensure pupils are given opportunities to “recap, revisit and recall their learning” to support long-term retention.
• Attendance remains an issue for “some of the most vulnerable pupils,” who “still do not attend well enough.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”