Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery

Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery is performing well overall, with commendable strengths in behaviour and personal development, receiving an overall effectiveness rating of 'Good'. The school fosters an inclusive environment, where pupils demonstrate exceptional behaviour and strong relationships with staff and peers. The curriculum is designed to build knowledge and skills effectively, although some subjects show room for improvement in assessment practices. The school has successfully navigated challenges from varying student mobility and has taken deliberate steps to enhance educational outcomes promptly.

Strengths

• Pupils display outstanding behaviour and attitudes towards learning.
• The school's commitment to an inclusive environment is evident.
• Provision for personal development is extensive, including a unique forest school curriculum.
• Staff are well-trained in teaching phonics, leading to confident early readers.
• Ambition and support for pupils with SEND is a particular strength.

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on pupils' understanding in some subjects are not always precise, leading to missed opportunities for support.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 2.9% of pupils at Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 19.8% of pupils at Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 8 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery received £8,664 and spent £8,976 for each of its 435 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £401,000 (£922 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Lewes · East Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery have?

Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery has 449 pupils on roll.

What age range does Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery cover?

Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 31% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery?

Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery is at Roderick Avenue North, Peacehaven, East Sussex, BN10 8BZ.