Shinewater Primary School

Shinewater Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school in Eastbourne with high levels of disadvantage, SEND support and pupil mobility. The inspection found the school performing well overall: inclusion and personal development and wellbeing are strong, while achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, and leadership and governance are at the expected standard. Safeguarding standards are met. The school is part of The Swale Academies Trust. Leaders are ambitious and inclusive, know pupils and families well, and have effective systems for identifying and supporting additional needs. Pupils benefit from a highly effective personal development programme, strong pastoral care, a calm and respectful culture, a broad curriculum, and strong early years provision. Staff receive high-quality training and feel well supported. There are still areas to improve. Some attainment measures, especially writing and combined reading, writing and mathematics, remain below national averages, and disadvantaged pupils' outcomes lag behind their non-disadvantaged peers nationally. Attendance and persistent absence are above national averages, although they are improving. The next steps focus on embedding consistently highly effective teaching so all pupils develop language, vocabulary and reading fluency, and on continuing to improve attendance, particularly for vulnerable pupils.

Strengths

• Highly ambitious and inclusive leadership for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND
• Early and effective identification of additional needs, with strong support and progress tracking
• High-quality staff training that removes barriers to learning and wellbeing
• Strong support for pupils with high mobility so they catch up quickly in reading, writing and mathematics
• Highly effective personal development programme, including the mini police initiative and relationships education
• Excellent pastoral care with therapeutic, enrichment and outdoor learning opportunities
• Calm and respectful school culture where disruption is rare and bullying is addressed quickly
• Broad, well-sequenced curriculum that prepares pupils well for the next stage
• Strong phonics and reading provision with books well matched to pupils' reading levels
• Purposeful early years provision, especially in communication, language and writing
• Effective leadership, governance and trust collaboration with clear understanding of strengths and priorities
• Staff feel well supported, appreciated and positive about working at the school
• Safeguarding arrangements are met and there is an open culture of safeguarding

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching is not yet consistently highly effective across the school, so some pupils do not develop language and vocabulary as well as they could
• Some pupils do not become increasingly fluent readers as consistently as they should
• Attendance remains above national average and persistent absence is too high, particularly for vulnerable pupils
• Combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment at the expected standard has been below national average
• Writing attainment, including for disadvantaged pupils, is below national average
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined and writing outcomes lag behind national non-disadvantaged peers
• Overall absence has been above national average in recent years

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 Shinewater Primary School attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.4% 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, 1.7% of pupils at Shinewater 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 Shinewater Primary School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.5% 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, 27.0% of pupils at Shinewater Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% 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 Shinewater Primary School received £7,144 and spent £7,373 for each of its 402 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £164,000 (£407 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of Swale Academies Trust, income was £8,268 and spending £8,248 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 Eastbourne · East Sussex local authority: places and applications

Shinewater Primary School is part of Swale Academies Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• The Turing School Eastbourne
• Langney Primary Academy Eastbourne
• The Eastbourne Academy Eastbourne
• Parkland Infant School Eastbourne
• Parkland Junior School Eastbourne
• Peacehaven Community School Peacehaven
• South Borough Primary School Maidstone
• Beaver Green Primary School Ashford
• The North School Ashford
• The Holmesdale School Snodland

What is Shinewater Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shinewater Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Shinewater Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Shinewater Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Shinewater Primary School have?

Shinewater Primary School has 393 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shinewater Primary School cover?

Shinewater Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Shinewater Primary School?

Shinewater Primary School is at Milfoil Drive, Langney, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 8ED.