Ashington CofE Primary School

Ashington CofE Primary is a small Church of England school that inspectors found to be welcoming, calm and well led. Pupils are happy, feel safe and behave well; attendance is above national averages and persistent absence is low. Leadership and governance are clear about priorities and have brought about improvements in early years, reading and phonics, and the wider curriculum, with recent gains in key stage 2 attainment. Safeguarding standards are met. Personal development is a strength: pupils benefit from a well-designed programme, strong pastoral care, outdoor learning and wider opportunities, and they are generally respectful and confident. However, the school’s academic work is not yet consistently secure. Achievement is improving but remains below national over three-year trends in combined attainment, writing and phonics, and some pupils lack secure foundational skills. Teaching and curriculum implementation vary between classes and subjects, and staff do not consistently check understanding or adapt learning. Inclusion and early years also require further work: barriers are not removed consistently for all pupils, and adults do not always extend children’s learning during independent activities. Leaders have identified these issues accurately and have introduced training, coaching and support, but this work is not yet fully embedded.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, happy and well supported in a welcoming school culture.
• Attendance is above national figures and persistent absence is low.
• Leaders track attendance closely and support families proactively.
• Pupils behave well and contribute to a calm, orderly environment.
• Bullying and discriminatory behaviour are rare, and pupils trust adults to resolve concerns.
• Leadership and governance understand the school well and have set the right priorities.
• Leaders have improved early years provision, reading and phonics, and the wider curriculum.
• Personal development is well designed and helps pupils grow in confidence and resilience.
• Pupils benefit from outdoor learning, visits, clubs and leadership responsibilities.
• Early reading and phonics have been strengthened, and pupils read with increasing confidence.
• Recent improvements in key stage 2 attainment reflect leaders’ actions.
• Staff know pupils well and provide strong pastoral care, including through Sunshine Club.
• Safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is not yet consistently secure over time.
• Three-year trends in combined attainment, writing and phonics remain below national figures.
• Some pupils do not secure foundational skills, including handwriting, letter formation and mathematical fluency.
• Curriculum and teaching are not implemented consistently across all classes and subjects.
• Staff do not consistently check pupils’ understanding or adapt learning in response.
• In some subjects, pupils do not build knowledge securely over time.
• Barriers to learning are not removed consistently for all pupils.
• Staff do not adapt learning well enough or apply SEND and disadvantaged pupil strategies consistently.
• In early years, adults do not routinely extend children’s thinking or introduce new vocabulary during independent activities.
• Continuous provision is not consistently well organised to support intended curriculum outcomes.
• Some pupils are less confident discussing different faiths, cultures and aspects of relationships education.

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 Ashington CofE Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Ashington CofE 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 Ashington CofE Primary School had 22.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.3% 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, 18.4% of pupils at Ashington CofE 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 Ashington CofE Primary School received £6,226 and spent £5,882 for each of its 190 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £93,000 (£487 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 Pulborough · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Ashington CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ashington CofE Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Ashington CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ashington CofE Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Ashington CofE Primary School have?

Ashington CofE Primary School has 190 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ashington CofE Primary School cover?

Ashington CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ashington CofE Primary School?

Ashington CofE Primary School is at Foster Lane, Ashington, Pulborough, West Sussex, RH20 3PG.