Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School

Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School is a warm and welcoming single-academy trust school where pupils feel happy and safe. Safeguarding standards are met. Early years provision, inclusion and personal development are clear strengths: children settle quickly, staff identify SEND early and work well with families and specialists, the Beehive nurture classroom supports pupils with SEND effectively, and a values-based programme helps pupils behave well and develop personally. Leaders have improved phonics and writing teaching, and staff feel well supported. Parents are typically positive, with SEND parents saying staff go above and beyond. However, the school is not yet meeting expected standards in several important areas. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should over time; many do not meet the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check, and some struggle to read and write accurately. There are gaps in pupils' knowledge across the curriculum because staff do not check learning securely or address gaps swiftly, and handwriting support is inconsistent. Attendance is too low, especially persistent absence for pupils with SEND, and leaders do not analyse attendance information sharply enough. Trustees' accountability varies, particularly in evaluating support for disadvantaged pupils, and the personal development programme needs to be broadened to better match pupils' aspirations. The school serves a context with above-average free school meals eligibility and location deprivation. Leaders recognise the priorities and have made recent improvements, but the impact of this work is not yet fully evident. Inspectors identified next steps around checking pupils' knowledge, developing handwriting, improving attendance analysis, strengthening trustee evaluation, and tailoring personal development.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming and nurturing early years provision where children settle quickly and are ready to learn
• Strong early identification of SEND and effective work with parents and external agencies
• Children develop secure communication and language skills through songs, nursery rhymes and routines
• Inclusive school culture that welcomes all and supports disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND
• The Beehive nurture classroom engages pupils with SEND and helps them be ready to learn
• Well-supported personal development and wellbeing, with values woven into lessons, trips, clubs and pastoral care
• Positive pupil behaviour, rare bullying, and staff who model the school's values effectively
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed
• Recent improvements to phonics and writing teaching, with reading accuracy steadily improving
• Staff feel well supported by leaders who consider workload and wellbeing
• Parents are positive about communication, and SEND parents report staff go above and beyond
• A broad and balanced curriculum with trips and activities that broaden pupils' experiences
• Trustees ensure statutory duties are met and actively participate in school life

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve as well as they should over time
• Many pupils do not meet the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check
• Pupils struggle to read and write accurately, hindering access to the broader curriculum
• Some pupils do not develop a secure knowledge of what they have learned and find it hard to build on prior learning
• Staff do not check in sufficient depth how well pupils secure important learning in some subjects
• Pupils do not routinely get the help they need to improve handwriting
• Some pupils are not fully prepared for their move to key stage 2
• Early writing remains a key area for development in the early years
• Attendance rates have not improved consistently and are not as regular as they should be
• Persistent absence for pupils with SEND, while improving, is too high
• Leaders do not use attendance analysis effectively to determine the impact of strategies
• Trustees' effectiveness in holding leaders to account varies and they do not rigorously evaluate support for disadvantaged pupils
• The personal development programme needs broadening to be tailored to pupils' aspirations
• Leaders are keen to track pupils' behaviour further so they can tailor support

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 Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.8% 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, 0.6% of pupils at Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery 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 Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School had 22.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 3.6% 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, 12.5% of pupils at Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School received £7,046 and spent £6,705 for each of its 305 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £400,000 (£1,311 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.

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What is Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School have?

Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School has 279 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School cover?

Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School?

Cottesbrooke Infant and Nursery School is at Yardley Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, West Midlands, B27 6LG.