Burrsville Infant Academy

Overview

Burrsville Infant Academy continues to be a good school, where pupils “love learning” and feel “happy, safe, and well-looked after.” Leaders have designed an “ambitious curriculum” that effectively supports reading and mathematics, though inconsistencies remain in other subjects.

Strengths

• Pupils “enjoy the subjects they are taught” and benefit from visits that “help them learn even more.”
• The curriculum in reading and mathematics is “precisely broken down,” allowing pupils to “build on what they already know.”
• Phonics sessions are “effective in teaching children to become fluent readers,” with targeted support for those finding reading hard.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities “access the same curriculum as everyone else” and receive “targeted support.”
• Staff “consistently manage behaviour well” and maintain “high expectations of all pupils.”

Areas to improve

• In foundation subjects, the curriculum “does not stipulate the precise order in which it needs to be taught or when key concepts need to be revisited,” limiting opportunities for pupils to “make links with prior learning.”
• Senior leaders must ensure new subject leaders “know how to accurately monitor the quality of education” and better support the “high expectations set by senior leaders.”

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff understanding how to identify risks and leaders ensuring “detailed records of all concerns” are kept.