Three of Purley’s state primary schools are ranked among the top 15% of schools in the country, as determined by the Schoolsmith Score. They are;
- Oasis Academy Byron in Coulsdon,
- New Valley Primary School in Purley, and
- Beaumont Primary School in Purley.
The differences between primary schools are less obvious than prep schools, and deliberately so. State education is designed such that all children should receive the same curriculum irrespective of where they are taught, and who is teaching them. So, to differentiate, parents have traditionally looked to SATS results and Ofsted gradings. Beyond that, there is also a commonly held belief that Church schools are ‘better’ schools. That’s pretty much it. Hopefully, this comparison might shed a little more light.
There is also a partner review for prep schools in the same area; Purley and Coulsdon. And that can be found here.
Age range, gender mix, and faith
Each of the three Purley state primary schools educate children from age 4 to 11. Only Oasis Academy Byron has an onsite pre-school for two-year olds and upwards and a community children’s centre.
New Valley Primary and Beaumont Primary provide access to out of hours care from 7.30/8.00am to 6.00/6.15pm. And all use external contractors on-site to provide that childcare. Oasis Byron has a breakfast club, but no after school care.
As far as gender mix goes, they are all co-educational, as indeed are almost all state primary schools.
Oasis Academy and New Valley Primary are academies, Beaumont Primary is a community school. Though they are nominally secular schools, they teach a mandatory RE curriculum.
Admissions
In terms of admissions policy, please refer to the individual schools’ websites. All operate a catchment system.
Oasis Academy Byron and Beaumont Primary are regularly oversubscribed on first preference choices. Furthermore, Beaumont Primary is among the five most popular schools for applications in the borough of Croydon.
Inspections
Ofsted inspectors consider Beaumont Primary to be Outstanding, according to its latest inspection. New Valley Primary and Oasis Academy Byron are Good schools.
Buildings and grounds
These three Purley primary schools occupy purpose-built facilities in residential areas. They have outdoor play areas and playgrounds. But not extensive grounds.
Class sizes and classes per year
Collectively, these Purley primary schools are smaller than average. They are all essentially one-form entry schools. New Valley Primary has one mixed age class.
Class sizes at each school are typically 30 pupils. But currently, average class sizes are 31 at Beaumont Primary, and 27-28 at Oasis Academy Byron and New Valley Primary.
Facilities at Purley state primary schools
They all have some specialist facilities to support their curricula, though not extensive.
For sport facilities are playgrounds and a school hall. Beaumont Primary and Oasis Academy Byron also have grass fields.
The multi-purpose hall is the specialist arts facility for all three. As for specialist academic facilities there are learning support rooms, environmental areas, and IT facilities.
Academic curricula
All these schools teach a broad curriculum in line with the National Curriculum. They use some topic-based methods, particularly with the humanities subjects, to develop pupils’ enquiry skills. Oasis Academy Byron, for example, uses the International Primary Curriculum.
Philosophy is an additional subject for all pupils at Oasis Academy Byron and Beaumont Primary. Oasis Academy Byron also teaches ‘enterprise education’ to introduce personal finance and commercial awareness.
Three different schools, three different foreign languages. Oasis Academy Byron teaches Mandarin, Beaumont Primary teaches Spanish, whereas New Valley Primary teaches French.
Oasis Academy Byron and New Valley Primary are academies. As such they may have more flexibility in the school day and curriculum. And, as members of multi-academy trusts, they may have access to more specialist teaching resources.
The schools include some element of outdoor learning in their curricula, particularly for their youngest pupils. New Valley Primary has the most developed programme, featuring the Outdoor Classroom Day.
Each of the schools offers educational trips, sometimes with a residential trip in Year 6.
Sport at Purley state primary schools
Each school teaches around 10 or 11 different sports.
Pupils at these three Purley primaries benefit from a larger number of after-school activities than at most schools. There are clubs for academic enrichment and hobbies, arts, and sport. Beaumont Primary offers the most.
None of the schools has a sustained track record for sporting achievement in national competitions.
The arts at Purley state primary schools
The three schools promote engagement with the arts on an individual and ensemble basis. There is art, a choir at each school, instrument learning and dramatic performances. Arts provision is probably best at Beaumont Primary, in and out of the classroom. Dance is a particular strength.
None of the schools has a current Artsmark accreditation, though Oasis Academy Byron used to.
Academic results
These Purley primary schools demonstrate consistent academic success. On a four-year average, Beaumont Primary is in the top 2% of UK schools for attainment in Year 6 SATS. Oasis Academy Byron is in the top 13%. Which means they are consistently good, not just scoring well one year for a particularly able year group.
As for pupil progress, again measured on four-year average from SATS results, all three are above average. Beaumont Primary is in the top 4%, Oasis Academy Byron the top 8%, and New Valley Primary the top 17%.
Choosing the best state primary school in Purley
The freedom to choose a state school is somewhat limited as applicants need to live within the school’s catchment area. But there may be a choice of more than one. Most Education Authorities offer the opportunity to select preferred schools, albeit from a limited list.
These schools are all among the top 15% best primary schools in the country. As I hope this note has shown, any one of them should be a preference. Two of these Purley primary schools rank higher. Oasis Academy Byron ranks in the top 250 English primary schools, Beaumont Primary in the top 50.
Rank | Best Purley primary schools | Schoolsmith Score |
---|---|---|
1 | Beaumont Primary School | 74 |
2 | Oasis Academy Byron | 72 |
3 | New Valley Primary School | 67 |
See also the best state primary schools in Sutton, Croydon, Redhill and Reigate, Leatherhead and Epsom
Why are these the best state primary schools in Purley?
Schools that feature in these notes are those with the highest Schoolsmith Scores, not just in Purley, but nationwide. The Schoolsmith Score is an objective score that accounts for 50 different aspects of schooling, grouped into 5 broad categories. You can read more about them from the links below, and the Schoolsmith Score here.
- their achievements; academic, sporting and artistic,
- the breadth of the education they offer,
- the quality of teaching,
- their facilities,
- their look and feel.
Need more help?
By now you might be wondering what you should be thinking about when choosing a school? It happens to everyone. Why not try my 7 one minute quizzes for those starting their school search? Wood, trees, and all that…