Cross Farm Infant Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 October 2023

Pupils are welcomed into this warm and inclusive school. They celebrate each other's individuality. Pupils who have recently joined from other countries are given bespoke support from staff. This helps them feel safe and well cared for by the whole school community. Staff have set high expectations for behaviour across the school that pupils readily rise to. The whole school community recognises the recent positive shifts in culture and behaviour. In lessons, pupils are mostly calm and focused. They enjoy being able to work and play together. Pupils benefit from a variety of opportunities beyond the academic curriculum. There is a particularly keen interest in music, where pupils take part in 'rocksteady' musical bands. Pupils can also choose from a range of clubs, including gardening, Spanish, playball and boogie bumps. Pupils have a voice in this school, through the school council. Pupils are starting to benefit from the actions leaders have taken to improve the quality of education. For example, the teaching of the new phonics programme is already improving how pupils learn to read. However, across the rest of the curriculum, pupils do not yet acquire the full range of knowledge and skills that they need to be ready for key stage 2.

What the school should improve

• Improvements across the whole school curriculum are in the early stages of implementation. As a result, pupils cannot always remember key knowledge and make links with their previous learning. The school should ensure that these curriculum improvements are embedded so that gaps in pupils' knowledge and skills are addressed.
• In some foundation subjects, teachers do not always design tasks which enable pupils to build knowledge systematically. As a result, pupils do not always learn as well as they could. The school should continue to develop teachers' expertise through ongoing professional development to help them implement the curriculum effectively across all subjects.
• Teachers do not always check if pupils are secure in their knowledge and skills before moving on to new learning. As a result, lesson activities are not always adapted carefully enough to help pupils achieve well across the curriculum. The school should ensure pupils' understanding is checked so that any gaps or misconceptions can be identified and addressed quickly.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)