Heene CofE Primary School

About Heene CofE Primary School

Heene CofE Primary School is a Church of England state primary in Worthing that currently educates 395 pupils against a capacity of 420, meaning it operates close to full but with a small number of spare places. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 23.2%, which is notably higher than the national primary average of around 23.8% and suggests the school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage. Demand for places is strong: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 85 applications for 34 places, an oversubscription ratio of 2.5 to one, and made 33 offers to first-preference applicants. This level of competition indicates that despite its recent Ofsted rating, many local families still rank Heene as their top choice. The school is mixed-gender and takes children from ages 4 to 11, with no nursery or sixth form provision.

Academically, Heene’s most recent Key Stage 2 results from 2023/24 paint a mixed picture. Just 46% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, well below the West Sussex local authority average of 56%. No pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects. In individual subjects, 67% met the expected standard in reading, 60% in writing and 60% in maths, while higher-standard attainment was 21% in reading, 17% in maths and 0% in writing. Average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 101 in maths. The school ranks 134th out of 226 primary schools in West Sussex on this combined measure, placing it in the bottom half of the county and in the bottom 50 nationally. Its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in April 2022 rated overall effectiveness as Inadequate, a downgrade from the previous Requires Improvement rating in 2018. Leadership and management, behaviour and attitudes, and personal development were all judged as Requires Improvement, while the quality of education was rated Inadequate.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a sports hall, ICT suite, library, music rooms, forest school area and a chapel, plus clubs such as book club, film club, chess, gardening, drama and art. Sports provision covers cross country, swimming, cricket, netball, gymnastics and athletics. For families with children who have special educational needs, Heene has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, autistic spectrum disorder, social and emotional mental health needs, and other difficulties. The school is oversubscribed, so families applying from outside the immediate catchment area should be aware that first-preference applications were all offered places in the most recent round, but the overall application number suggests competition is real. Heene may suit families who value a Church of England ethos and a wide extracurricular programme, but who are prepared to engage closely with the school during a period of required improvement under headteacher Laura Turner.

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