The Minster Nursery and Infants Church of England Academy

About The Minster Nursery and Infants Church of England Academy

Parents at The Minster Nursery and Infants Church of England Academy are overwhelmingly positive about their experience. In the most recent Parent View survey, covering September 2024 to September 2025, 92% of the 13 respondents said they would recommend the school to other parents. That confidence is backed up by strong individual scores: 69% strongly agreed that their child is happy, and every single parent agreed that their child feels safe. The school is clearly popular locally too. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 75 applications for just 37 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.03. Of those, 31 first-preference families were offered a place. Parents also feel well-informed about their child’s learning, with 84% agreeing or strongly agreeing that the school lets them know how their child is doing. Concerns are dealt with properly according to 54% of respondents, and a further 31% said the question was not applicable, suggesting few issues arise in the first place.

Academically, the school is rated Good by Ofsted, a grade it has held across its most recent graded and ungraded inspections. The most recent graded inspection, in January 2019, gave the school a Good overall, with leadership and management, and early years provision, also rated Good. The ungraded inspection in April 2025 confirmed that standards are being maintained. The school’s previous inspection, back in 2008, had rated it Outstanding overall, so the current Good rating represents a shift but not a decline in quality. The school serves a community where 33.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average, yet parents feel expectations are high: 100% agreed or strongly agreed that the school has high expectations for their child. For a school that only goes up to age 7, there are no published KS2 SATs results to compare against the Croydon local authority average of 66% achieving the expected standard, but the strong parent satisfaction and Ofsted ratings suggest solid foundations are being laid.

The school offers a wide range of facilities for such a young age group, including a library, outdoor playground, playing fields, sports hall, art studios, and a chapel. Sports on offer include rounders, cross country, netball, football, dance, and gymnastics, while clubs range from choir and coding to art, drama, chess, and gardening. For children with additional needs, the school has specific SEND provisions for social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, and autistic spectrum disorder. It also has nursery provision for children from age 2. The school is a Church of England academy in Croydon, and with a capacity of 360 but only 221 pupils on roll, there is room for growth. This is a school that suits families who want a strong community feel, high parental engagement, and a clear focus on early years development, all within a faith-based setting. The nearest Outstanding-rated alternative is Harris Primary Academy Purley Way, 0.9 km away, for those who might also want to consider a different option.

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