Avishayes Community Primary School

Avishayes Community Primary School is a caring and welcoming standalone academy where pupils feel safe and well supported. The early years provision is a notable strength, and pupils benefit from good behaviour, strong pastoral care, and a well-considered personal development programme. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. However, the quality of education requires improvement because pupils' achievement has remained low over time and their experiences vary too much across subjects. In several subjects, the curriculum does not clearly set out the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn, and assessment is not used well enough to identify and address gaps. Early reading is not consistently strong, with some pupils' reading books not matching the sounds they are learning and key stage 1 catch-up support not sharply focused. Pupils with SEND are identified promptly and supported through individual plans, but weaker curriculum design in some subjects limits how well they learn. The board of trustees does not have an accurate view of the school's strengths and weaknesses and does not hold leaders to account well enough. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic's impact into account. Overall, the school has clear strengths in care, behaviour, personal development, and early years, but it needs to improve curriculum design, assessment use, reading support, and trustee oversight.

Strengths

• Early years curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced from Nursery to Reception
• Staff build strong relationships with pupils and care for them well
• Pupils feel safe and are confident staff will address concerns
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Personal development programme is a strength
• Pupils have access to a wide range of clubs and experiences
• School ambassadors act as strong role models
• Pupils with SEND are identified promptly and supported with precise targets
• Pastoral care and mental health support are highly effective
• Phonics programme is well designed and staff have received appropriate training
• Attendance work is helping some pupils improve their attendance
• Pupils have a secure knowledge of fundamental British values and treat each other with respect

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement has remained low over time
• Curriculum changes have been slow in some subjects
• In some subjects, the curriculum does not clearly identify the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn
• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent and does not help all pupils, including pupils with SEND, build knowledge well
• Assessment information is not used effectively to identify gaps and shape future learning
• Knowledge gaps persist for some pupils and hinder their progression
• Teaching of early reading is not yet consistently strong
• Some pupils' reading books do not match the sounds they are learning
• Key stage 1 catch-up support for phonics is not sharply focused
• Some pupils do not become confident and fluent readers
• The board of trustees does not have an accurate view of the school's strengths and weaknesses
• Trustees do not challenge leaders sufficiently or hold them fully to account
• Pupils who are absent too often need more help to attend school regularly

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 Avishayes Community Primary School attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.1% 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, 3.4% of pupils at Avishayes Community Primary School 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 Avishayes Community Primary School had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.7% 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, 18.6% of pupils at Avishayes Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.0% 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 2024–25 Avishayes Community Primary School received £7,595 and spent £7,565 for each of its 200 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £208,000 (£1,040 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Chard · Somerset local authority: places and applications

What is Avishayes Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Avishayes Community Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Avishayes Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Avishayes Community Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Avishayes Community Primary School have?

Avishayes Community Primary School has 199 pupils on roll.

What age range does Avishayes Community Primary School cover?

Avishayes Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 46% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Avishayes Community Primary School?

Avishayes Community Primary School is at Fairway Rise, Chard, Somerset, TA20 1NS.