Marston Green Infant Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Marston Green Infant Academy has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

The headteacher of this school is Beverley Elliott. This school is part of Marston Green Infant Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Beverley Elliott, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Keith Guthrie.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be part of this welcoming and vibrant school. They are taught that they can achieve anything, regardless of their background. Expectations of all pupils, including those with special e...ducational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are high.

Pupils work hard and achieve well, especially in reading and mathematics.

Parents and carers value the school's nurturing approach. Staff know the pupils well and help pupils to feel well cared for and safe.

Pupils know that they can talk to staff if they have any concerns. At the start of each school day, the 'sunshine club' offers effective support for pupils' emotional needs.

Pupils learn to play and learn together respectfully.

In the early years, children share equipment. In lessons, pupils listen carefully and join in with discussions enthusiastically. At breaktimes, pupils enjoy using the different 'zones', where they can use equipment or take part in adult-led games.

Pupils relish leadership opportunities. These include transforming their classrooms into museums that showcase their learning, and then inviting their parents to visit. Enrichment afternoons give pupils the confidence to learn something new and spark interest in subjects like physics, where they make a lava lamp.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The curriculum has been carefully designed so that the pupils are well prepared for Year 3. The school has identified precisely what pupils should learn from pre-school to Year 2. The curriculum is memorable and fun.

For example, children in the early years 'buy' a ticket and purchase a coffee in the 'train station' before they travel. Older pupils investigate numbers up to 10 with the help of the character 'Number Bond'. Staff regularly check what pupils know and understand.

They provide effective support when pupils have any misunderstandings. Occasionally, the learning activities are not sharply focused on the most important content that pupils need to know. When this happens, pupils do not learn as well as they could.

All pupils benefit from the modelling of examples and tailored resources. Pupils with SEND receive the extra help they need to learn well. The school quickly identifies the needs of pupils with SEND and secures appropriate external support when necessary.

The school successfully fosters a love of reading. Staff model reading well. Through the '12 Reads of Christmas', for example, staff produce videos of themselves reading festive texts that families can enjoy at home.

The school has taken decisive action in response to the disappointing phonics outcomes in 2024. Extra phonics support helps pupils to catch up. Pupils become confident and fluent readers by the end of Year 2.

Writing begins in the early years with mark making. It progresses to older pupils writing about texts and their learning in different subjects. The school has rightly identified that some pupils make errors in spelling, punctuation and letter formation.

Work to improve pupils' writing, and in particular pupils' basic writing knowledge, is in the early stages, and it is too soon to see the full impact.

Pupils are kind and thoughtful and look out for each other. As one pupil, reflecting the views of many, said, 'Everyone needs a friend.'

The small number of pupils who sometimes struggle to manage their emotions receive the right pastoral support. This support gives pupils the chance to learn how to express their feelings more positively.

Most pupils attend school regularly.

The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school has noticeably declined. This is because the school monitors attendance carefully and works effectively with individual families.

Pupils learn about the importance of democracy when they elect their school council.

These pupils make sure that everyone has a say. For example, they sought the views of their classmates before the playground was organised into different 'zones'. Outdoor learning activities successfully help to develop pupils' social skills.'

We worked as a team to build a fairy home,' explained a pupil when asked about their time in the school's forest area. Age-appropriate activities teach pupils how to keep safe at home and online.

Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and priorities for improvement.

They welcome external support and scrutiny to help everyone in the school make the necessary changes. Governors are highly committed to the school. They use their experience and expertise well to provide effective support and challenge, and to ensure the school continues to improve.

Governors are considerate of leaders' welfare, who in turn do all they can to make sure staff workload is manageable. This has resulted in a close-knit team, where staff morale is high.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• At times, staff do not provide pupils with activities that enable pupils to learn the intended curriculum content. On these occasions, pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could. The school should make sure that staff are supported to consistently provide pupils with work that helps pupils to develop the knowledge and skills they need.

• Some pupils have not secured basic writing knowledge because in the past the focus has been on the quantity of writing produced by pupils. As a result, some pupils' writing contains basic errors in spelling, punctuation and letter formation. The school should build on the actions being taken to help pupils develop their early writing skills so that pupils achieve as well as they can in writing, including handwriting.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in October 2019.