Ladycross Infant School

Ladycross Infant School is a happy and caring school where pupils feel safe and enjoy learning. Inspectors found good personal development and early years provision, with strong reading and phonics teaching, effective support for pupils with SEND, and a broad range of opportunities that help pupils contribute to school life and the local community. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and governors and staff are committed to improvement.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and enjoy attending school
• Reading is a top priority, with strong phonics teaching starting in Reception
• Books are carefully matched to pupils' phonics knowledge
• Pupils who need extra reading help receive effective support to catch up
• Children in early years are confident, curious and eager to learn
• The early years provision supports communication and language development well
• Pupils with SEND have their needs identified well and receive bespoke support
• The curriculum is broad and progressively sequenced across subjects
• Personal development is good, including health, online safety and local community involvement
• Pupils take on meaningful roles such as pupil parliament and friendship ambassadors
• A wide range of clubs and extra-curricular opportunities develop pupils' talents and interests
• Staff value the consideration given to their workload and well-being
• Governors are committed and have effective processes to evaluate the school's work
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement because recent curriculum changes are not yet fully embedded
• In some subjects, planned activities do not help pupils achieve the curriculum aims consistently
• Pupils' subject knowledge and skills lack depth in some areas
• Checks on pupils' learning in some foundation subjects do not clearly identify what pupils remember
• Teaching does not always build effectively on what pupils already know
• Behaviour and attitudes require improvement because expectations for learning behaviour are not consistently high
• The new behaviour system is not applied consistently across the school
• Low-level disruption hinders pupils' learning in some lessons
• Pupils' knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and faiths remain fragile
• Pupils are not fully prepared for life in modern Britain

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 Ladycross Infant School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.9% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Ladycross 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 Ladycross Infant School had 21.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.7% 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, 17.8% of pupils at Ladycross Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% 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 Ladycross Infant School received £9,393 and spent £9,095 for each of its 155 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £287,000 (£1,857 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 Nottingham · Nottinghamshire local authority: places and applications

What is Ladycross Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ladycross Infant School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Ladycross Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ladycross Infant School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Ladycross Infant School have?

Ladycross Infant School has 157 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ladycross Infant School cover?

Ladycross Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Ladycross Infant School?

Ladycross Infant School is at Victoria Road, Sandiacre, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG10 5JD.