Shelley Primary School

Shelley Primary School is a welcoming and happy school where pupils are respectful, kind and feel safe. Behaviour and attitudes are positive, children in the early years settle quickly, and personal development is a clear strength, with a wide range of clubs, trips and pupil leadership opportunities. Reading is also well prioritised, with a structured phonics programme, effective staff training, well-matched books and swift support for pupils who fall behind. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main concern is the quality of education. Although the curriculum is broad and logically sequenced, it is not implemented consistently across subjects. In some subjects, activities do not match the intended curriculum aims, and teachers do not consistently use assessment information to identify and address gaps before moving learning on. As a result, some pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not secure and recall knowledge as well as they should. Recent training is helping staff, but this work is at an early stage and teachers are not yet confident in all aspects of curriculum delivery. Leadership has been through a period of turbulence, and the school’s view of its effectiveness has not been fully accurate. Recent leadership changes have helped sharpen priorities, but governors are newly appointed and their work to hold leaders to account and check the impact of improvement actions is at an early stage. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and no overall effectiveness grade is given under the current framework.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, respectful and kind, and feel safe at school.
• Behaviour expectations are clear and pupils show highly positive attitudes to learning.
• Children in the early years settle quickly into routines and begin learning confidently.
• The curriculum is broad and covers the full range of national curriculum subjects, with logical sequencing from the early years.
• Reading is a priority, with a structured phonics programme, effective staff training, well-matched books and swift catch-up support.
• Pupils with SEND are carefully identified and receive helpful support and resources to access the curriculum.
• Pupils attend well, cooperate with each other, and parents are very positive about the school.
• Personal development is extensive, including health education, respect for difference, clubs and pupil leadership roles.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff-pupil relationships are warm and respectful, and teachers explain ideas clearly.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent across subjects, so intended knowledge is not always taught in sufficient depth.
• Activities are not consistently matched to curriculum aims, meaning pupils sometimes remember tasks rather than the knowledge they need.
• Teachers do not consistently use information about what pupils know to identify and address gaps before moving learning on.
• Some pupils, including pupils with SEND, have gaps in their knowledge and do not achieve as well as they are capable of.
• Curriculum training and support are at an early stage, and teachers are not confident in all aspects of delivery.
• The school’s view of its own effectiveness has not been fully accurate.
• Governors are newly appointed and their work to hold leaders to account and check the impact of actions is at an early stage.
• There is not sufficient rigour in checking the impact of improvement actions, and priorities have not been focused sharply enough on impact.

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 Shelley Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.5% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Shelley Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were 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 Shelley Primary School had 22.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.3% 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, 12.9% of pupils at Shelley Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 Shelley Primary School received £5,861 and spent £5,775 for each of its 412 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £65,000 (£158 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
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All schools in Horsham · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Shelley Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shelley Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Shelley Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Shelley Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Shelley Primary School have?

Shelley Primary School has 412 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shelley Primary School cover?

Shelley Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Shelley Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Shelley Primary School?

Shelley Primary School is at Wickhurst Lane, Broadbridge Heath, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 3LU.