Carr Infant School

Carr Infant School remains in special measures following its January 2026 full inspection, and this first monitoring visit found that leaders, with substantial external support from the Excel Learning Trust, are making rapid and necessary improvements. Safeguarding standards are met, and behaviour has improved significantly: pupils are calmer, ready to learn, and benefit from strong pastoral care and clear expectations. Inclusion has also moved quickly, with pupils with SEND now fully included, better supported and making better progress from their starting points. The school's work in reading, writing and mathematics is strengthening, including early reading and phonics, and children in the early years are increasingly well prepared for Year 1. However, the school still requires special measures. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, leadership and governance, and personal development still need urgent improvement. Pupils' learning in wider curriculum subjects is uneven, tasks can dominate over building knowledge, and support for SEND and disadvantaged pupils is not consistently adapted beyond reading, writing and mathematics. The PSHE and personal development offer is new and inconsistently taught, and some pupils do not gain the knowledge they need about relationships, diversity and health. Attendance remains an ongoing priority, especially for disadvantaged pupils, and early years provision still has inconsistencies. Year 2 pupils are not as well prepared for the next stage as they should be, and governors need to develop the skills to hold leaders to account effectively. Overall, the direction of travel is positive and leaders understand what needs to improve, but the improvements are recent and not yet secure across all areas.

Strengths

• Behaviour has improved significantly, with high expectations and a mostly calm environment.
• Pupils are nurtured and benefit from effective pastoral support, including the Maple provision.
• Leaders rigorously check consistency of behaviour management.
• The early years curriculum is clearly sequenced and children are increasingly well prepared for Year 1.
• Children learn phonics well and are immersed in reading, with strong early writing support.
• Leaders took swift action to make SEND support effective and fully include pupils with SEND.
• Pupils with SEND are making better progress and their behavioural and SEMH needs are met well.
• Targeted catch-up support is carefully designed, rigorously monitored and increasingly successful in early reading and writing.
• Support for disadvantaged pupils is specifically targeted, with a thoughtful strategy for the coming year.
• Leaders have improved reading, writing and mathematics teaching, and more pupils are securing key knowledge.
• Leaders, supported by the Excel Learning Trust, have made rapid improvements and have well-considered, accurately targeted plans.
• Safeguarding standards are met and there is an open culture of safeguarding.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, and disadvantaged pupils are supported to attend.
• Daily taught sessions help pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online.

Areas for Improvement

• The school still requires special measures and relies on external trust support to lead it.
• Pupils continue to make fewer gains in subjects beyond reading, writing and mathematics.
• In some subjects, lessons focus on task completion rather than building on prior knowledge and developing understanding.
• Teachers do not ensure pupils learn equally well in all subjects, and some struggle to recall important knowledge.
• Adaptations for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are not consistently effective across the wider curriculum.
• The personal, social and health education curriculum is at an early stage and is not taught consistently well.
• Pupils do not consistently learn important knowledge about relationships, diversity and keeping healthy.
• Visits and visitors are not explicitly linked to curriculum learning in school.
• The wider offer is more limited for pupils with higher levels of need.
• Attendance remains an ongoing priority, and disadvantaged pupils miss too much school.
• Early years support and provision remain inconsistent in places.
• Year 2 pupils are not as well prepared for their next stage in education as they should be.
• Gaps in some pupils' learning persist despite improved catch-up support.
• Governors need to develop the skills and expertise to hold leaders to account effectively.
• Leaders should continue to refine behaviour management so all staff consistently reinforce high expectations.
• Leaders should further develop early years approaches and improve staff effectiveness.

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 Carr Infant School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.1% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Carr 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 Carr Infant School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.9% 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, 15.0% of pupils at Carr Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Carr Infant School received £7,977 and spent £7,810 for each of its 197 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £150,000 (£762 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).

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What is Carr Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Carr Infant School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Carr Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Carr Infant School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Carr Infant School have?

Carr Infant School has 200 pupils on roll.

What age range does Carr Infant School cover?

Carr Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Carr Infant School?

Carr Infant School is at Ostman Road, Acomb, York, North Yorkshire, YO26 5QA.