Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available emoji_events #129 in East Sussex public Top 100% UK

St Michael's Church of England Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Sarah Bulgin

location_onPlayden Rye, TN31 7PJ

language Visit Website phone 1797280277

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

school

Expected Standard

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

1.0x

summarize

St Michael's Church of England Primary School is a Voluntary controlled school primary school in Playden Rye, serving ages 5-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Ranks in the top 100% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

St Michael's Church of England Primary School is a voluntary controlled school in Playden Rye, East Sussex, admitting pupils aged 5-11. The school has approximately 81 pupils on roll, of whom 30% are eligible for free school meals.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Requires improvement, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Requires improvement.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 14.4:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 1.8 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

LA 58%

Reading33% LA 72%

Writing0% LA 69%

Maths33% LA 68%

Read SS

Maths SS

GPS SS

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

38%

LA 56%England 61%

Reading62% LA 71% · Eng 74%

Writing77% LA 69% · Eng 72%

Maths69% LA 68% · Eng 73%

Read SS

101

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

103

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

55%

LA 55%England 60%

Reading64% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Writing55% LA 68% · Eng 71%

Maths64% LA 66% · Eng 73%

Read SS

101

Maths SS

101

GPS SS

100

Progress (0 = national avg)

-3.2

Read

LA -0.9

-7.0 to 0.5

-2.4

Write

LA -1.5

-6.0 to 1.2

-1.8

Maths

LA -2.0

-5.3 to 1.7

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

33%

LA 63%England 65%

Reading53% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing73% LA 78% · Eng 78%

Maths53% LA 74% · Eng 79%

Read SS

Maths SS

100

GPS SS

101

Progress (0 = national avg)

-3.7

Read

LA -0.4

-6.9 to -0.4

-0.1

Write

LA -0.7

-3.1 to 2.9

-1.7

Maths

LA -1.2

-4.6 to 1.1

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

47%

LA 65%

Reading79% LA 77%

Writing74% LA 79%

Maths63% LA 74%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

101

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

-0.8

Read

LA 0.5

-3.6 to 2

-1.4

Write

LA -0.3

-4 to 1.2

-2.9

Maths

LA -0.4

-5.4 to -0.4

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

23 April 2025

Inspection Report

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26 November 2019

Inspection Report

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04 May 2016

Inspection Report

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07 December 2011

Inspection Report

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04 November 2009

Inspection Report

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03 October 2008

Inspection Report

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23 May 2005

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

4 Evaluations

2025-04-23

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Requires improvement

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Requires improvement

2016-05-04

None Legacy

No Judgement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

Development

Leadership

2011-12-07

S5 Inspection Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2008-10-03

None EIF

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

1.2%per term

warning Above Average

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

1.2%(1 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 81 pupils. During this period, there were 1 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 1.2%, which is above the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	81	1	1.2%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	83	2	2.4%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	91	0	0.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	92	0	0.0%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	96	0	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	90	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	87	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	88	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	91	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	93	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	95	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	100	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	102	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	106	1	0.9%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	104	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	104	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	94	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	89	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	90	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	89	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	106	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	103	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	100	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	93	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	93	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	95	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Moderate Learning Difficulty 6 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 5 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 4 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 1 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils

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St Michael's Church of England Primary School

School Summary

Academic Performance

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Church of England)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in East Sussex

Breakwater Academy

Sandown Primary School and Nursery

Ark Blacklands Primary Academy

Pevensey and Westham CofE Primary School

Peacehaven Heights Academy

St Peter and St Paul CofE Primary School