Seaton Sluice First School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 March 2025

Pupils in the main school and those in the specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), The Lighthouse, benefit from attending this caring and welcoming school together. The school is rightly proud of its ethos that everyone is included. Pupils like school because it is 'caring, fun and trustworthy'. They attend regularly and arrive on time. Pupils behave well in and around the school's safe and secure learning environment. They thrive and grow in confidence during breaktimes in the very well- resourced outdoor provision. Their social skills are developed as they explore the well- ordered allotment, new wooden teepee and established trim trail together. The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement. Overall, pupils achieve well. Music is the bedrock of the school's academic and pastoral offer. All pupils learn to communicate with each other using sign language. Their joyful choral and signed performance of 'Defying Gravity' is spine tingling. The school knows the pupils and their families very well. Parents and carers appreciate the support their children receive. One parent, echoing the views of most, said, 'Teachers go above and beyond to support my child's needs.'

What the school should improve

• The school's new curriculum is not embedded fully. In some subjects, some pupils have gaps in their foundational knowledge. The school should review its curriculum plans and address the identified gaps in pupils' knowledge incisively.
• Pupils have a limited understanding of cultural, religious and ethnic communities. They are not prepared fully for life in the local and national community beyond first school. The school should revisit its curriculum content to ensure its pupils are knowledgeable about cultural, religious and ethnic communities, both locally and nationally.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)