Avishayes Community Primary School

About Avishayes Community Primary School

Ofsted's Parent View survey, based on 35 responses collected between September 2024 and September 2025, shows that 66% of parents would recommend Avishayes Community Primary School. That's a significant minority of 34% who wouldn't, and the survey responses reveal some sharp divides. While 94% of parents agree or strongly agree that their child is happy, and 82% feel their child is safe, only 62% agree that concerns are dealt with properly, with 37% actively disagreeing. On behaviour, 62% agree the school ensures good conduct, but 31% disagree. The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 academic year, receiving 32 applications for 24 places, with 24 first-preference offers made — an oversubscription ratio of 1.33. This suggests a degree of local demand, but the mixed parent feedback indicates that the school's reputation among current families is far from universally positive.

Academically, the picture is challenging. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, just 16% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — well below the Somerset local authority average of 59%. This places Avishayes bottom of the 134 primary schools in the county on this measure, and in the bottom 1% nationally. Individual subject scores are also low: 41% reached the expected standard in reading, 25% in maths, and 31% in writing. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2024 judged overall effectiveness as 'Not judged' (a section 8 inspection), but graded both quality of education and leadership and management as 'Requires improvement'. Positively, early years provision, personal development, and behaviour and attitudes were all rated 'Good'. The previous full inspection in 2015 rated the school 'Good' overall.

Avishayes is a mixed, state primary for ages 3-11 in Somerset, with a nursery on site. It has 208 pupils against a capacity of 239, and 29.7% are eligible for free school meals. The school offers a range of facilities including a forest school, music rooms, ICT suite, sports hall, playing fields, library and chapel. Clubs include chess, coding, eco club, gardening, art and science. Sports on offer include cross country, athletics, swimming, tennis, netball, rounders and football. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. However, the Parent View data shows that among the 43% of respondents with a child with SEND, opinion is evenly split: 40% agree the school gives the support needed, while 53% disagree. This school may suit families who value its forest school and range of activities, but the academic and parental feedback data suggest it is currently navigating significant challenges.

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