Ruskin Infant School

Overview

Ruskin Infant School is a welcoming academy where pupils are "happy and proud" to attend. The report highlights a "shared ethos and code of high expectations" championed by staff, resulting in strong attendance and positive relationships with parents.

Strengths

• Reading is highly valued, with pupils starting phonics early and receiving "skilful support" to read fluently using books that "match the sounds that pupils are learning".
• Early years provision ensures children get off to a "good start", with staff helping them speak clearly, form letters correctly, and develop early mathematics skills.
• The school is "ambitious" for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), using improved strategies to identify needs quickly and adapt the curriculum.
• Pupils understand and live by core values such as respect and kindness, behaving courteously and understanding rules like being "good to be green".
• Staff receive effective training to improve subject knowledge, and the trust has provided "clear direction" during staffing changes.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, pupils do not get the opportunities needed to "embed important learning" and do not "reliably remember some key knowledge" over time.
• The leadership of some subjects is "not yet fully established", requiring continued support to ensure leaders have the necessary knowledge and skills.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."