About The School

Learning. Caring. Sharing.

Please read a letter from our Chair of Governors and a letter from The Director of Education for the Diocese of Canterbury. 

Tunstall is a popular Church of England Primary School which currently consists of 10 classes. In Easter 2016, we moved onto a new site with a brand new building and spacious grounds. It is an expanding school with two forms up to year 3 and single forms in 4, 5, and 6. By 2021 it will be a two – form entry school. The school has excellent facilities including two halls, kitchen, multipurpose room, MUGA and two fields. Lettings of the school halls, managed by the Business Manager, provide extra income. Breakfast and After School Clubs, run by school staff, are very popular. The school provides meals for another local school thus generating additional income.

We were in the process of moving from the old school to the new one when we had an Ofsted inspection followed a few months later by a SIAMs inspection and we received 'Outstanding' on both. You can read our Ofsted report here, and our SIAMs report here.

Ofsted said this about us:

"The school makes an outstanding contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It prepares them well for life in modern, diverse Britain and gives them a firm understanding of its Christian heritage."

Notwithstanding the Ofsted report, we are not complacent and are looking for a head teacher with the vision to develop further our high standards, to manage the expansion and yet maintain the family/ community ethos embedded in traditional values. There are opportunities for an innovative head teacher to maximise the new facilities and to collaborate with other schools to share our good practice. 

We have a dedicated staff with much expertise and a willingness ‘to go the extra mile.’ The staff turnover is very low and when we do advertise any vacancies we always have a large number of applicants. There is a strong Leadership Team and a body of experienced teaching assistants. Tunstall has strong links with the local church and we attend church for the Christian Festivals such as Harvest, Christmas, Easter and the Leavers’ Service in the summer. Collective Worship takes place weekly.

Not only are our academic results good but our children are well behaved. They are proud of their school and delighted to show people round the school. Classroom visitors comment on how articulate the children are as they describe fully what they are doing in class and why. The curriculum is broad and balanced and the school has a Music specialist and music is one of the strengths of the school as is Drama.

Our parents are very supportive of the school. There is an excellent PTA and from our Summer Fair and other functions raise a large sum of money for the benefit of the pupils. They fund enrichment activities, outside play equipment and pantomimes for pupils to name but a few. The school is regularly oversubscribed.

The Governing Body is effective and knowledgeable and several have served the school well for many years.

We are a caring community and supportive to all children, staff and governors, which is in line with our Christian ethos. Six Christian values have been chosen by pupils, staff and governors and are promoted across the whole school by all adults. They are:

Forgiveness 
Service
Kindness 
Perseverance
Friendship
Truthfulness

We value our bond with Tunstall Church very highly and embed Christianvalues through our teaching, knowledge, skills, thought processes and behaviour. We also have good relationships with the Canterbury Diocese and Local Authority, both of whom helped with funding, alongside the DfE, for our brand new, purpose-built premises.

Alongside our school curriculum, we run a wide range of extracurricular activities for our students, which are a very important part of their development. We ensure that our pupils leave well prepared for secondary school, ensuring they feel safe and happy at school. We put the children first, and they are at the centre of all that we do.

The school year, however, is interspersed with many events that enhance the children’s education and provide a sense of fun, team work and sheer enjoyment. For example, at Christmas it is magical to see the trees outside lit up and the children and parents singing carols with the local community. As well as the various Nativity Plays, Key Stage 2 took part in a Christmas Songs concert for parents and guests. In the summer there is a Talent Show, which is eagerly awaited by the children, and in May, the whole school takes part in a May Day celebration with each class performing a dance and Year 6 carrying on the tradition of dancing round the maypole. The children also raise large sums of money for various charities.

We work collaboratively with some local schools to ensure that we are outward looking and wish to expand this collaboration. Our presence in the community is very important as we work alongside our excellent PTA and other parents to raise funds for the school. Although we are expanding, it is even more important that we maintain the welcoming, community feel of the school and continue to work collaboratively with those around us.

I hope that the above has given you a flavour of our school and you feel you are the person for whom we have been looking.