Silvertrees Academy

Silvertrees Academy is a warm, inclusive infant school where pupils feel valued, happy and safe. Inspectors found strong provision across the school, with outstanding personal development and good quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision. The school has high expectations, particularly in reading, and pupils meet them; early reading is highly effective, children get off to a great start in the early years, and pupils with SEND are identified quickly and achieve well. The ambitious 'head, hand, heart' curriculum is carefully sequenced, and an exceptional personal development offer helps pupils take on responsibilities, enjoy clubs and trips, and become active citizens who respect difference.

Strengths

• Warm, inclusive culture where diversity is celebrated and pupils feel happy and safe
• High expectations for achievement, particularly in reading, are met by pupils
• Strong safeguarding and well-being culture with respectful staff-pupil relationships
• High expectations for behaviour; pupils are attentive, engaged and follow established routines
• Exceptional personal development offer with responsibilities, trips, clubs and community involvement
• Ambitious, carefully sequenced 'head, hand, heart' curriculum
• Highly effective early reading provision with skilled staff and quick catch-up support
• Strong early years provision where children settle well and make a great start
• Swift identification and effective support for pupils with SEND, who achieve well
• Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for life in modern Britain
• Leaders, including trustees, are highly ambitious and support staff workload and well-being
• Rigorous performance checks and overwhelmingly positive parental engagement

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should and miss important learning
• The school has not yet evaluated the impact of recent work to improve attendance or considered future improvements
• Some pupils are not consistently supported to check and correct their written work, so errors go unchecked
• Staff do not consistently apply the school's approach to correcting writing, which can limit progress for pupils who need to catch up

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 Silvertrees Academy attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.5% 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, 0.3% of pupils at Silvertrees 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 Silvertrees Academy had 22.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 15.6% of pupils at Silvertrees Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Silvertrees Academy received £7,451 and spent £7,636 for each of its 303 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £525,000 (£1,736 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 Tipton · Sandwell local authority: places and applications

What is Silvertrees Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Silvertrees Academy is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Silvertrees Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Silvertrees Academy was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Silvertrees Academy have?

Silvertrees Academy has 314 pupils on roll.

What age range does Silvertrees Academy cover?

Silvertrees Academy for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Silvertrees Academy?

Silvertrees Academy is at Silvertrees Road, Tipton, West Midlands, DY4 8NH.