Pytchley Endowed Church of England Primary School

I regret to say that my experience with Pytchley CE Primary School has been overwhelmingly negative, largely due to the questionable leadership of the Head starting in 2020. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this school to any parent seeking a nurturing educational environment for their child. The Head has demonstrated a lack of basic skills necessary for a headteacher, especially in dealing with parents openly, honestly, and in a consultative manner.
The Head has exhibited a secretive approach to leadership, making changes behind closed doors that often proved detrimental to the children and facilitated her imposition of arbitrary rules without scrutiny. The Head's behaviour has left parents with little confidence, as she consistently avoids direct conversations, refuses to make eye contact, and even goes so far as to shut doors on concerned parents. The exit of multiple members of teaching staff and withdrawal of students due to the negative impact on their well-being further underscore the problems stemming from the Head's leadership.
Under this Head, the once wonderful school has rapidly declined. Fun activities that were once a staple of the school experience have been removed, creating a stark contrast to the vibrant environment it used to offer. Additionally, there are serious concerns surrounding funding allocation that never seem to benefit the children or the school as a whole.
The damage inflicted on Pytchley CE Primary School under this Head's management is undeniable. It will undoubtedly require a Herculean effort to lift the school out of the depths of its current extremely poor state. Potential parents and guardians should exercise extreme caution before considering this school for their children's education.

Pytchley school is not well lead, it has become more of a dictatorship than a primary school. Children are not allowed to play freely at break and lunch.

There has been a change in the behaviour policy and introduction of a "naughty list" to scare children into behaving.

There are massive problems with behaviour and children are labeled with additional needs when they don't have them. When my child had issues with another child, it was not resolved well.

Head does not engage at all with parents or inform of changes to important policies.

Parents and pupils are not happy but unable to voice an opinion as will be accused of bullying the Head and their child labelled as difficult. A high number of children have left the school and gone to other local schools, including the Chair of Governors child!

Head does not want to engage with the local community and made it very difficult for the PTFA to be reestabliahed.

There has also been a high turnover of staff since the Head has been in post.(January 2020)

The school was amazing up until the new head joined in 2019. The new head teacher did not have the ability to communicate with the children or lead the team of teachers. The communication was even worse with the parents. Lots of the school activities and extra curriculum stopped within 6 months of the head being at the school. The good teachers in this school left very quickly after the head arrived. The whole situation made my child unhappy and unsettled. Additionally, parents were not allowed to be involved in the school, and the normal year 6 trips were cancelled without any real communication.

Any issues and complaint by parents were unfortunately never addressed. Leaving a feeling of a head dictatorship and distrust. The children were in my child’s year often left school at the end of the day unhappy and disheartened as the changes at break limited play.

Lots of money was provided to the head for charity events, this money was never probably accounted for, leading to further distrust.

I would not recommend that a child is enrolled at this or any other school whilst this head is there.

This was a vibrant inclusive community school. Now it’s a shadow of its former self since the change in Head with lots of long standing members of staff leaving and all extra curricular activities have stopped. I would no longer chose this school. The teachers do an amazing job and this review is based on the Head.