Funtington Primary School

Funtington Primary School is a strong, inclusive primary school where pupils flourish personally and learn well. The school has addressed previous shortfalls rapidly and effectively, redesigning the curriculum so that essential knowledge is sequenced carefully across mixed-age classes. Pupils behave well, feel safe and benefit from an exceptional personal development programme that builds character, resilience and confidence. The school is highly inclusive, identifies pupils with SEND quickly and works closely with families to ensure pupils are fully included in school life. Reading has been a particular focus, with a vibrant reading culture, a new library and stronger phonics teaching helping staff spot struggling readers sooner. Attendance work is also relentless and is beginning to remove barriers for vulnerable pupils. Governors support and challenge the school well, and parents praise the care and commitment of staff. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Exceptional personal development programme develops pupils' character, values and confidence.
• Highly inclusive approach supports pupils with SEND to access all the school offers.
• Pupils behave well, are caring and accepting, and feel safe at school.
• Curriculum is carefully sequenced to meet the needs of mixed-age classes.
• Strong reading culture and improved phonics teaching help identify struggling readers quickly.
• Early years activities promote language development, independence and engagement.
• Relentless attendance work is removing barriers for vulnerable pupils.
• Governors support and challenge the school effectively, and parents value staff commitment.
• Rich trips, clubs, music and sports broaden pupils' experiences and community awareness.
• Staff value professional development and teaching is becoming more consistent.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment checks do not consistently identify pupils' knowledge gaps, slowing progress for some.
• Some tasks are not well matched to essential knowledge, limiting how deeply pupils learn.
• Pupils have too few opportunities to extend and practise writing across the curriculum.
• Learning tasks are not always adapted well for some pupils with SEND, reducing achievement.
• Some older pupils still lag behind in reading despite stronger phonics and extra English 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 Funtington Primary School attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 28.1% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Funtington 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 Funtington Primary School had 20.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 28.4% of pupils at Funtington Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.6% 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 Funtington Primary School received £7,598 and spent £7,895 for each of its 116 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £13,000 (-£112 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 Chichester · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Funtington Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Funtington Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Funtington Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Funtington Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Funtington Primary School have?

Funtington Primary School has 116 pupils on roll.

What age range does Funtington Primary School cover?

Funtington Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Funtington Primary School?

Funtington Primary School is at Heather Close, West Ashling, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 8DR.