Priory School A GSG School
- Priory School
Mountfield Road
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 2XN - Head: Mr Jon Curtis-Brignell
- T 01273 476231
- F 01273 486922
- E office@priory.e-sussex.sch.uk
- W www.priory.e-sussex.sch.uk/
- A state school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 16.
- Boarding: No
- Local authority: East Sussex
- Pupils: 1,153
- Religion: Does not apply
- Open days: September
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
-
Ofsted:
- Latest Overall effectiveness Good 1
- Effectiveness of leadership and management Good 2
- 1 Short inspection 8th November 2023
- 2 Full inspection 25th February 2015
Short inspection reports only give an overall grade; you have to read the report itself to gauge whether the detailed grading from the earlier full inspection still stands.
- Previous Ofsted grade: Outstanding on 6th May 2010
- Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
What The Good Schools Guide says..
Some extraordinary teaching has made classics popular, students enthusiastically describing it as ‘so exciting… so absurd’. ‘A very football school’, said a parent, with boys’ and girls’ teams; the boys are current holders of the local area schools' shield. Students we met were friendly and articulate, comfortable with themselves and each other; they reflected on their own statements...
What the school says...
With a new leadership team in place since September 2022, this is an exciting time for the school. Our aim is for Priory to be the leading inclusive and creative state secondary school in the region, a school in which all students acquire powerful knowledge, feel a strong sense of social connection and belonging, and become ethically-aware citizens who are ready to confidently take their place in the world. Our school also aims to reflect the uniqueness of Lewes, historically and socially. ...Read more
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What The Good Schools Guide says
Headteacher
Since September 2022, Jon Curtis-Brignell, previously head at Thomas Tallis School, Greenwich, where he rose through the ranks during his 17 year tenure. Grew up in Sussex and studied English and philosophy at Southampton, where he also gained a masters in literature, culture and modernity. Did teacher training at Canterbury Christ Church University. Casts educational net wide as fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, research and development lead for the Royal Greenwich Teaching School Alliance and ASCL local representative, as well as a speaker at various national conferences. Believes ‘the community comprehensive school is the best tool we have for enabling all young people to acquire powerful knowledge and make sense of the world around them - an entitlement which should not be limited on grounds of assumed ability or motivation, ethnicity, class...
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Results by exam and subject
Subject results
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
We strongly believe that all children should be able to succeed, whatever their individual needs. We recognise that these needs can be varied so our approach is flexible, designed to develop the necessary skills and strategies required by children to achieve their potential. We work closely with our pastoral teams, our school counsellor, and our student support advisor as well as with a range of external agencies. Throughout year 7, 8 and 9, smaller classes with a bespoke curriculum are organised for children who will benefit from this smaller learning environment. Within these classes we focus on developing basic skills and on preparing children for a successful transition to an appropriate GCSE curriculum. In years 10 and 11, children have the opportunity to follow a vocational programme which may include attending a course at a local college for one day a week. We are actively involved with the teaching and monitoring of the smaller classes and offer a variety of interventions to support students in developing their basic literacy skills. We also run a variety of interventions which are designed to support students in developing positive engagement and improving self-esteem. The potential aims of these groups range from building confidence in year 7 to looking at emotional well-being at key stage 4. We work with mainstream curriculum areas to develop good inclusive teaching strategies that support differentiation. Ofsted made the following comments in its 2018 report: 'Morale is high at your inclusive school, and everyone shares your determination to provide the best for every pupil.' 'One group of pupils said, "Teachers are supportive and enthusiastic", and in another meeting, pupils told us that "This school is inclusive, and it is OK to be different".' 'Pupils’ personal development and well-being, including their mental health, has a high priority and is well provided for at your school.'
| Condition | Provision for in school |
|---|---|
| ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder | Y |
| Aspergers | Y |
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders | Y |
| CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia | |
| Dyscalculia | |
| Dysgraphia | |
| Dyslexia | Y |
| Dyspraxia | Y |
| English as an additional language (EAL) | Y |
| Genetic | |
| Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory | |
| Has SEN unit or class | |
| HI - Hearing Impairment | Y |
| Hospital School | |
| Mental health | |
| MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty | Y |
| MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment | |
| Natspec Specialist Colleges | |
| OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability | Y |
| Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| PD - Physical Disability | |
| PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty | |
| SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health | Y |
| SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication | Y |
| SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty | |
| Special facilities for Visually Impaired | |
| SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | Y |
| VI - Visual Impairment | Y |
Interpreting catchment maps
The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.
Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.
For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained
Further reading
If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.
Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.
Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.
*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.
The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.
Children get into the school from here:
regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year
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