Crosshall Infant School

Crosshall Infant School Academy is performing well overall, with strengths identified in personal development and early years provision, both rated as outstanding. The school has created a rich learning environment that promotes both academic and social skills, preparing students effectively for their future education. This is particularly evident in their reading program and the engaging curriculum that inspires pupils to enjoy learning. The school is operating under a new inspection context, being its first since becoming an academy, following a significant period without routine inspections due to legal exemptions.

Strengths

• Strong emphasis on early years education with exceptional learning opportunities.
• High-quality texts and a shared vision for nurturing a love of reading.
• Polite and welcoming pupils who demonstrate good behaviour.
• Effective leadership and management that support continuous improvement.
• Excellent support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Areas for Improvement

• Some key stage 1 pupils do not have consistent access to appropriately matched reading materials, hindering their reading fluency.

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 Crosshall Infant School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.4% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Crosshall 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 Crosshall Infant School had 25.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.7% 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, 5.9% of pupils at Crosshall Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.7% 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 2024–25 Crosshall Infant School received £6,490 and spent £6,689 for each of its 296 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £100,000 (£338 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Meridian Trust, income was £7,921 and spending £7,857 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in St Neots · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

Crosshall Infant School is part of Meridian Trust, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Crosshall Junior School St Neots
• Stratton School Biggleswade
• Great Ouse Primary Academy Bedford
• Oakley Primary Academy Bedford
• Lincroft Academy Bedford
• Sharnbrook Academy Bedford
• Swavesey Village College Cambridge
• Bar Hill Community Primary School Cambridge
• The Ferrers School Rushden
• Sawtry Junior Academy Huntingdon

What is Crosshall Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Crosshall Infant School is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was Crosshall Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Crosshall Infant School was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does Crosshall Infant School have?

Crosshall Infant School has 287 pupils on roll.

What age range does Crosshall Infant School cover?

Crosshall Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Crosshall Infant School?

Crosshall Infant School is at 446 Great North Road, Eaton Ford, St Neots, Cambridgeshire, PE19 7GG.