Harlands Community Primary & Nursery School

About Harlands Community Primary & Nursery School

Parents at Harlands Community Primary & Nursery School are overwhelmingly positive about their experience. In the most recent Parent View survey, covering September 2024 to September 2025, 97% of the 76 respondents said they would recommend the school. The strongest signals come from children's happiness and safety: 82% strongly agreed their child is happy, and 83% strongly agreed their child feels safe. Communication with parents also scores highly, with 75% strongly agreeing the school keeps them aware of what their child will learn, and 68% strongly agreeing they are kept informed of progress. The school is clearly popular locally, too. For the 2025/26 reception intake, Harlands received 93 applications for just 30 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.1. Of those, 52 were first-preference applications, and 28 first-preference offers were made, indicating strong demand from families in the Wealden area.

Academically, Harlands performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 79% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with the East Sussex local authority average of 59%. This places the school 3rd out of 48 primary schools in Wealden, putting it in the top 25% nationally. Average scores were 107 in reading and 106 in maths, both above the national benchmark of 100. A higher-than-average proportion of pupils reached the higher standard in reading (31%) and maths (17%). The school's most recent graded Ofsted inspection, in 2015, rated it Good overall, with Good marks for leadership, management and early years provision. An ungraded inspection in October 2024 confirmed that standards have been maintained. This is a notable improvement from the school's previous inspection in 2013, which rated it Requires Improvement.

The school offers a broad range of facilities, including a library, ICT suite, sports hall, playing fields, a sensory room and a forest school area. Sports on offer include athletics, football, cricket, tennis and cross country, while clubs include Eco Club, Chess and Film Club. Harlands has a nursery provision for children from age 2, and its SEND provision covers moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. Interestingly, 79% of parents with SEND children strongly agreed the school gives them the support they need. With 268 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, the school is oversubscribed, so families considering Harlands should be prepared to apply early and list it as a first preference. It suits families who value strong communication, a clear focus on core academic skills, and a school that feels both safe and happy.

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