Thorns Community Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 April 2026

Thorns Community Infant School is a warm, welcoming and joyful place. Pupils start the day with smiles on their faces. They enjoy the time they spend with their friends and adults at the school. Parents and pupils alike love this caring, nurturing infant school. Relationships across the community are highly positive. Pupils are proud to attend. Pupils treat each other with respect. They are polite and well mannered. The school's ENRICH values are important to pupils and they live them out day to day. Breaktimes are sociable and enjoyable. Pupils have close friendships and play happily with one another. In lessons, pupils mostly concentrate well and there is little disruption. This helps them to feel safe. Pupils learn calming strategies to help manage their emotions. This helps reduce barriers to wellbeing. Pupils say bullying is rare and always dealt with quickly. Pupils rarely miss school. They appreciate the interesting opportunities leaders provide, such as musical theatre clubs, swimming and music tuition. Leaders help where there are barriers to access so that every pupil can take part. Pupils achieve well. In the early years, children settle quickly. Staff care for them and provide the teaching they need to develop language, number and writing knowledge. At times, adults miss opportunities to interact with children to help them progress their learning even further. As they move through school, pupils continue to enjoy learning and work hard. Leaders help them catch up quickly if they fall behind. During their time at school, pupils gain the knowledge they need to prepare them well for junior school. Where pupils have barriers to learning, staff support them well. Sometimes pupils' work across the wider curriculum does not reflect what they can achieve, but this is improving.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that targets to support pupils are sharply matched to their needs so that barriers are removed swiftly and pupils develop greater independence over time.
• Leaders should ensure that staff consistently design tasks appropriately matched to learning outcomes so that pupils produce high-quality work across the curriculum.
• Leaders should ensure that staff in the early years maximise opportunities for high-quality interactions throughout the school day.

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