Ladycross Infant School

Overview

Pupils at Ladycross Infant School are described as happy and safe, with many modelling the school’s aims of ‘learning, making friends and having fun’. While the school has raised expectations for the breadth and depth of learning, these positive changes are recent and require time to become fully embedded. The report highlights that while personal development and early years provision are strong, inconsistencies in teaching methods and behaviour management currently hinder pupils’ progress in other areas.

Strengths

• The curriculum is broad and progressively ordered, with bespoke support helping pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to be successful.
• Reading is a top priority; phonics teaching starts strongly in Reception, and books are carefully matched to the sounds pupils know.
• Early years provision is effective, with children described as ‘confident, curious and eager to learn’ in a focused atmosphere.
• Pupils make meaningful contributions to school life through roles such as ‘pupil parliament’ and ‘friendship ambassadors’, developing responsibility and care.
• Staff care for pupils’ well-being, teaching them to be physically and mentally healthy and safe online.

Areas to improve

• Pedagogical choices in some subjects do not fully support pupils to achieve the intended goals, resulting in a lack of depth in knowledge and understanding.
• Checks on pupils’ learning in some foundation subjects do not clearly identify what pupils remember, meaning teaching does not always build effectively on prior knowledge.
• Expectations for behaviour are not high enough, and the new behaviour system is not applied consistently, leading to low-level disruption that hinders learning.
• Pupils’ knowledge of a range of faiths and cultures is not secure, leaving them not fully prepared for life in modern Britain.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.