Stalyhill Infant School

Stalyhill Infant School is a small infant school in the Stalyhill School's Federation, inspected in April 2026. Safeguarding standards are met. The school is generally performing at the expected standard across most areas, with pupils achieving well overall, high attendance, positive behaviour, and a well-designed early years curriculum. Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make positive progress from their starting points. Strengths include a rich personal development programme, strong pastoral care, effective inclusion, and positive relationships with parents. Pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular activities and feel safe and well looked after. Leaders have managed the school's recent integration into a federation well and support staff wellbeing and workload. However, curriculum and teaching require attention. Leaders do not have a secure insight into curriculum quality, and phonics and some subjects beyond English and mathematics are not taught consistently well. Writing and phonics development priorities are not fully embedded, and early years interactions could be more consistently high-quality. These issues sometimes slow pupils' progress and leave gaps in knowledge unaddressed.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well overall, with most Year 1 pupils meeting the phonics screening check standard.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND make positive progress from their individual starting points.
• Pupils have consistently high rates of attendance, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Pupils behave sensibly, have positive attitudes to learning, and get along well with classmates.
• The early years curriculum is well designed with clear end points for readiness for Year 1.
• Staff have a sharp focus on developing children's communication skills and model speaking and listening well.
• Leaders have appropriate systems to identify and support pupils with SEND, working collaboratively with early years providers.
• Pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs receive well-considered, individualised support.
• Leaders make appropriate use of pupil premium funding to reduce barriers to learning.
• Governors fulfil their statutory duties and have managed federation integration well.
• Parents are highly positive about the school and report especially good communication from leaders.
• Staff are well supported to manage their wellbeing and workload, with regular professional learning.
• A rich personal development programme offers a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and trips.
• Pupils learn how to stay safe online and develop strategies to manage their wellbeing.
• An active school council helps pupils share their views democratically.

Areas for Improvement

• Leaders do not have a secure insight into the quality of curriculum and teaching.
• Curriculum evaluation lacks rigour, so curriculum deficiencies are not routinely identified and addressed.
• Phonics and some subjects beyond English and mathematics are not taught consistently well.
• Writing and phonics improvement actions are either at an early stage or not fully embedded.
• Pupils have some gaps and misconceptions in their knowledge that are not always addressed well enough.
• Support for pupils to close gaps in essential English and mathematics knowledge is not rigorously overseen or sharply focused.
• In the early years, staff sometimes do not maximise high-quality interactions to deepen children's learning.
• Leadership oversight of the curriculum is less robust than in other areas of their work.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Stalyhill Infant School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.2% of pupils at Stalyhill Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Stalyhill Infant School had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 3.5% of pupils at Stalyhill Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Stalyhill Infant School received £7,507 and spent £8,057 for each of its 141 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £17,000 (£121 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stalybridge · Tameside local authority: places and applications

What is Stalyhill Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Stalyhill Infant School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Stalyhill Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Stalyhill Infant School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Stalyhill Infant School have?

Stalyhill Infant School has 141 pupils on roll.

What age range does Stalyhill Infant School cover?

Stalyhill Infant School for pupils aged 5 to 7.

Where is Stalyhill Infant School?

Stalyhill Infant School is at Stalyhill Drive, Stalybridge, Cheshire, SK15 2TR.