Studfall Infant Academy

Overview

Studfall Infant Academy continues to be a good school, described as a "warm and welcoming place" where pupils feel "secure and valued." Leaders have created a caring environment with a strong ethos of inclusion, ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs, receive the support necessary to thrive.

Strengths

• The school’s ethos of "nurture, discovery, believe, achieve and shine" creates a positive atmosphere where pupils are "polite and cheerful" and enjoy learning.
• Early years provision is strong, with a "sharp focus on developing pupils’ language" through stories, rhymes, and songs.
• Mathematics teaching is effective, with pupils enjoying lessons and using "precise mathematical vocabulary" and resources to build confidence.
• Staff provide high-quality support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), adapting lessons to meet individual needs.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with staff well-trained to identify signs of harm and report concerns swiftly.

Areas to improve

• Leaders need to refine curriculum thinking in some foundation subjects so that "key knowledge that pupils need to remember is precisely defined."
• Staff should ensure a consistent approach to teaching reading fluency, as some pupils "sound out words when they do not need to" and do not always know what fluent sentence reading sounds like.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with detailed record-keeping and strong collaboration with other agencies to secure support for pupils when needed.