Aerodrome Primary Academy

Aerodrome Primary Academy is a broadly well-led and inclusive school that is meeting expected standards overall, with inclusion and personal development judged as strong. Leaders know their pupils and families well, provide highly effective support for pupils with SEND, including through The Meadow and Typhoon classes and a well-structured speech, language and communication resourced provision, and create a nurturing, aspirational culture. Pupils behave very well, attend in line with national averages, and benefit from a broad curriculum and a wide range of personal development experiences and pastoral support. Achievement is typically in line with national averages, with stronger outcomes at the higher standard in key stage 2 reading and mathematics and improved phonics in 2025. Disadvantaged pupils generally achieve in line with or above national averages in several measures, although a gap remains in writing. The main area for improvement is writing: some pupils lack fluency, handwriting and sentence construction are not consistently secure, and early years letter formation needs strengthening. Leaders are already addressing this. Attendance is close to average but remains a priority, especially for disadvantaged pupils. The school is part of REAch2 Academy Trust and serves a larger-than-average pupil population, with above-average proportions of pupils with EHC plans and a specially resourced provision for pupils with speech, language and communication needs. Governance, staff support and morale are strong, and safeguarding arrangements meet requirements.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture with effective support for pupils with SEND
• Well-structured resourced provision with expert personalised support
• Strong personal development programme with wide enrichment and trips
• Effective pastoral care and nurturing support for vulnerable pupils
• Pupils behave very well and show respect and kindness
• Bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly
• Broad, well-designed curriculum with a strong vocabulary focus
• Effective early reading and phonics provision
• Strong subject knowledge and consistent teaching strategies
• Accurate identification of barriers to learning, including SEND
• Effective governance and trust oversight
• High staff morale, retention and meaningful professional development
• Attendance strategies particularly effective for pupils with SEND
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve in line with or above national averages in several measures
• Strong partnerships with parents and external agencies

Areas for Improvement

• Writing fluency is not consistently secure across the school
• Handwriting, letter formation and sentence structure need strengthening
• Early years writing skills, especially letter formation, are less secure
• Attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, is not consistently high
• Disadvantaged pupils' writing outcomes remain below non-disadvantaged national averages

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 Aerodrome Primary Academy attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Aerodrome Primary Academy 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 Aerodrome Primary Academy had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.6% 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, 16.3% of pupils at Aerodrome Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 20 pupils and resourced provision with 20 pupils.

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 Aerodrome Primary Academy received £9,279 and spent £8,887 for each of its 452 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £103,000 (£228 per pupil).

Across all 65 schools of Reach2 Academy Trust, income was £7,346 and spending £7,105 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 Croydon · Croydon local authority: places and applications

Aerodrome Primary Academy is part of Reach2 Academy Trust, which runs 65 schools. The nearest others:

• Robert Fitzroy Academy Croydon
• St Mark's Church of England Primary Academy London
• Tidemill Academy London
• Brampton Primary Academy Bexleyheath
• Dorothy Barley Junior Academy Dagenham
• The Woodside Primary Academy London
• Pound Hill Infant Academy Crawley
• Chapel End Junior Academy London
• Purfleet Primary Academy Purfleet-On-Thames
• Summerside Primary Academy London

What is Aerodrome Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Aerodrome Primary Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Aerodrome Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Aerodrome Primary Academy was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Aerodrome Primary Academy have?

Aerodrome Primary Academy has 447 pupils on roll.

What age range does Aerodrome Primary Academy cover?

Aerodrome Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Aerodrome Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Aerodrome Primary Academy?

Aerodrome Primary Academy is at Goodwin Road, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 4EJ.