St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy

St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy is a good school where pupils are expected to flourish academically, personally and socially, and where positive relationships and behaviour are evident. The school's values underpin daily life, pupils are inclusive and respectful, and they take pride in roles such as courageous advocates, pupil parliamentarians, eco-club members and worship leaders. Safeguarding is effective, and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Leadership has changed relatively recently, with the headteacher taking post in April 2024, and the leadership team has already improved safeguarding, the curriculum, early years provision and behaviour. The curriculum is well organised and pupils generally recall learning well, while reading and SEND support are notable strengths. Personal development is a particular strength, supported by RSHE, outdoor learning and a broad extra-curricular offer. The main areas for improvement are that teaching does not always align closely enough with the curriculum in a small number of cases, leaving some gaps in pupils' knowledge, and the early years curriculum is still at an early stage of design and implementation, with some milestones not yet clear across the whole Reception Year. The school has also identified weaknesses in phonics teaching and is addressing them; current actions are ensuring pupils continue to learn phonics well. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is part of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust.

Strengths

• Pupils are respectful, inclusive and supportive of one another.
• Behaviour is positive and poor behaviour is rare.
• Pupils understand and live out the school's values.
• Pupil leadership roles are carried out with pride and contribute to school life.
• Leadership has brought about improvements across safeguarding, curriculum, early years and behaviour.
• The curriculum is well organised and builds content cumulatively.
• Pupils develop a passion for reading and enjoy hearing teachers read.
• Phonics is taught consistently, and pupils who fall behind are quickly helped to keep up.
• Pupils with SEND are accurately identified and well supported to access the same curriculum as their peers.
• Personal development is a strength, with well-structured RSHE, outdoor learning and a broad extra-curricular offer.
• Children get a positive start in early years and are well cared for.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Parents and carers are unanimously positive about the school.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of cases, teaching does not align closely enough with the curriculum, so pupils miss some key knowledge.
• The early years curriculum is not yet fully designed, sequenced and implemented across the whole Reception Year.
• Some early years milestones are not clear in a small number of places, limiting checks on learning across the full curriculum.
• The school has identified weaknesses in how phonics is taught and is still addressing them.

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 St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy attended 96.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.9% 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 St Peter's Crosskeys CofE 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 St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 14.9% of pupils at St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% 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 St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy received £7,010 and spent £7,041 for each of its 171 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £295,000 (£1,723 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,940 and spending £8,035 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 Newark · Nottinghamshire local authority: places and applications

St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy is part of Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 24 schools. The nearest others:

• The King's Church of England Primary Academy Newark
• Magnus Church of England Academy Newark
• Mount CofE Primary School Newark
• Kneesall CofE Primary Academy Select
• Burntstump Seely CofE Primary Academy Nottingham
• St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Edwinstowe Mansfield
• West Grantham Church of England Secondary Academy Grantham
• Cotgrave Church of England Primary School Nottingham
• West Grantham Church of England Primary Academy Grantham
• St Peter's CofE Primary Academy, Mansfield Mansfield

What is St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy have?

St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy has 161 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy cover?

St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy?

St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy is at Sandhill Road, Farndon, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 4TE.