Cross Farm Infant Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

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 i...nterest 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 does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Recently, the school has started to make many improvements to the curriculum.

The planning across each subject now reflects the school's ambition for all pupils to learn a well-considered curriculum from the Reception Year through to Year 2. However, in many subjects, these improvements have just begun. Staff are still developing their understanding of the new curriculum.

The activities pupils complete are not always clearly linked to the intended learning. As a result, pupils have gaps in their knowledge, which makes understanding new learning more challenging.

The school's teaching of mathematics reflects the initial impact of the improvements that are being made.

Here, pupils benefit from clear explanations from staff who have a strong knowledge of the curriculum. Pupils can confidently link their new knowledge of number to what they have learned before. In mathematics and reading, teachers check what pupils know and can remember during their lessons.

This allows teachers to adapt what they teach to inform pupils' next steps and address any misunderstandings. However, this is not the case across the rest of the curriculum and the school recognises the need for further improvements.

The school increasingly promotes a love of reading with pupils.

Staff have improved the library space and classroom displays. Reading success is celebrated by selecting 'reading champions'. The phonics programme is generally taught effectively.

Comprehensive staff training has ensured that staff teach reading well. During phonics lessons, pupils learn effective strategies to sound and blend words. Staff routinely scan the room, checking how well pupils are learning.

They pick up on where pupils need correcting and further support. The books that pupils read are well matched to the stage of reading that they are at. Most pupils are learning to read well and enjoy exploring stories across the school.

Children get off to a good start in their schooling in early years. The curriculum is well considered. Staff prioritise developing children's communication skills.

Pupils get the extra support that they need to develop their speech and vocabulary. Staff positively interact with children to broaden their skills through play. Children develop secure relationships with adults, who help them prepare for key stage 1.

Staff identify the individual needs of pupils as early as possible. They have a determination to remove any barriers to learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This includes helping some pupils with SEND to recognise and communicate their emotions.

This helps them to share their feelings and enables staff to provide bespoke support when needed.

Behaviour across the school is good. The school's values permeate across all classrooms.

Importance is placed on the whole school community engaging positively with all aspects of school life. Pupils live up to these values by being kind and treating each other with compassion. Pupils value the opportunities to pursue their interests.

There are a wide range of clubs and activities available to them. Pupils appreciate the care staff take to help them manage their worries and emotions.

The trust and governors work closely to support the school's ongoing improvements.

There is beneficial and regular engagement between the school, parents and the wider community. The positive views of the school are reflected in the responses to Ofsted's survey, where the majority of parents said they would recommend the school to others.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• 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.

Also at this postcode