Eastbourne primary school rated 'requires improvement' following Ofsted inspection

The report of West Rise Junior School in Chaffinch Road was published on September 26 and 'the quality of education' and 'leadership and management' were also rated 'requires improvement'.

Despite this, the areas of 'behaviour and attitudes' and 'personal development' were rated 'good'. The school's previous inspection grade was also 'good'.

The report says the former permanent headteacher Mike Fairclough was not in school at the time of the inspection and had been absent since December 2022. During this time, the assistant headteacher was in charge.

Mr Fairclough has since resigned claiming he had been ‘discriminated against, harassed and bullied’ by East Sussex County Council.

The Ofsted report states: "There has been a decline in standards and the quality of education. The school has also been through a difficult period and experienced some turbulence in leadership and staffing.

"Additionally, governors have not maintained strong enough oversight of aspects of the school or held leaders to account sufficiently well. The acting headteacher has worked tirelessly to ‘steady the ship’ and has ensured that the school community has remained ‘connected’. Staff enjoy working at the school and feel supported.”

Inspectors said leaders’ recent work to strengthen mathematics has been successful, although the curriculum in most other subjects is not as defined.

Leaders were praised for reinvigorating the school’s wider reading curriculum, however, the support for pupils who are at an early stage of learning to read is not fully effective, the report states.

Teachers make sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have access to the full curriculum and students’ additional needs are quickly identified and understood, the inspectors said.

The report adds: “Persistent absence remains stubbornly high for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.”

Pupils’ personal development is enhanced through a wide range of enrichment, sporting and artistic activities and the arrangements for safeguarding are effective, inspectors found.

Acting headteacher Helen Pentecost: “Whilst we are disappointed with our most recent Ofsted rating, we have started to make the necessary improvements to address the points raised, with work on many areas already underway ahead of the visit in July – something that inspectors recognised in their report.

“We are delighted that the inspectors were able to see so many positives during their visit, including the calm and positive nature of our staff and children, our great outdoor learning experiences, and our efforts to keep our pupils safe.

“We are working with the school community to ensure that we continue to be a nurturing school, enriching the lives of all our pupils and inspiring and empowering independent and creative learners.”