Foley Infant School Academy Review 2026: A small Kinver infant school with a strong early years focus

Because Foley is an infant school (up to age 7), the usual Key Stage 2 headline measures that many parents compare across primary schools do not apply here. What matters instead is whether children leave Year 2 with secure early reading, writing basics, number sense, and the habits that make Key Stage 2 success more likely at their next school.

The most useful published evidence for Foley’s quality is its inspection profile. The latest Ofsted inspection (11 July 2023) graded the school Good across all areas, including early years provision.

Beyond that headline, the curriculum detail the school publishes is relevant because it shows what the day-to-day academic diet looks like. Foley states it uses Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised for phonics and Big Cat Phonics as a matched decodable reading scheme. In an infant setting, that combination usually signals a structured approach to phonics progression and closely matched books, which tends to support early fluency when implemented consistently.

Parents comparing schools locally should keep their expectations calibrated: you are selecting for foundations and trajectory, not exam outcomes. The right questions are practical ones, such as how quickly pupils move through phonics phases, how reading practice is organised at home, and how swiftly staff act when a child is not keeping up.

Foley presents its curriculum as broad and balanced, spanning Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the National Curriculum, and it is explicit about the building blocks it prioritises in literacy and mathematics.

Early reading and writing

The school’s published English intent focuses on developing a long-term love of reading and writing, and on building confident, fluent readers who read widely, often, and for pleasure as well as to learn.

Operationally, the key detail is the phonics and reading scheme pairing (Little Wandle; Big Cat Phonics). For parents, the implication is that early reading practice at home is likely to be tightly linked to what happens in school, which can make it easier to support without second-guessing methods.

Early maths

The maths description emphasises practical and oral work, mental strategies, and applying concepts to everyday situations. That is broadly consistent with best practice in infant maths, where concrete representations and spoken reasoning matter as much as worksheets.

Curriculum breadth

In addition to core subjects, the school lists a full range of foundation subjects and wider personal development work (including PSHE and environmental education). At infant stage, the benefit of this breadth is often indirect: vocabulary development, background knowledge for reading comprehension later, and confidence with talk and collaboration.

For an infant school, “destinations” mostly means transition into a local junior school for Key Stage 2. Foley sits within a trust that also includes Brindley Heath Junior Academy, and the two are regularly presented together in trust admissions materials, which is a strong signal that transition planning between the pair is likely to be well established.

What parents should look for is how the school supports the handover at the end of Year 2: sharing attainment information, preparing children for different routines, and ensuring that reading fluency and number foundations are secure enough for the jump in curriculum breadth.

For nursery families, there is an additional step: nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. That point is made explicitly in the trust admissions arrangements and is worth treating as a planning assumption from the start.

Foley is a state school with no tuition fees, and admissions follow coordinated local authority processes for normal entry points.

Reception entry (September 2026 intake)

For Staffordshire, the published timeline states that applications open on 01 November 2025 and close on 15 January 2026.

In the trust’s admissions arrangements, the closing time is stated as 23:59 on 15 January, with allocation results notified on 16 April by the applicant’s home local authority.

Oversubscription criteria are set out in the trust admissions arrangements and include the usual priority structure, such as children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, looked-after children, siblings, and then distance. The trust also describes distance as measured in a straight line using local authority software.

The school’s published admissions number for Reception is 60.

Nursery

Little Acorns Nursery opened in February 2020 and offers either full-day provision described as 30 hours per week, or mornings-only described as 15 hours per week, during term time.

Nursery pricing is not set out in a way that can be responsibly summarised here without risking misstatement, especially because funded entitlements and optional sessions vary by child and family circumstances. For nursery costs, families should use the nursery information provided by the school and cross-check eligibility for funded early education hours.

In-year admissions

The school’s admissions page states that in-year applications are handled through the relevant local authority, and notes a distinction in how Staffordshire handles in-year coordination for certain schools.

A practical tip: when demand is tight, small distance differences can decide outcomes. Using a precise distance tool, such as FindMySchool’s Map Search, is the most reliable way to sanity-check how realistic a preference is before you commit to it.

Pastoral strength at infant stage is often about predictable routines, consistent adult responses, and calm transitions between play, phonics, and carpet time. Foley’s published material places wellbeing alongside learning in visible ways.

The clearest example is the structured approach to the school dog, including permission processes and explicit teaching of safe interaction. For children who find school emotionally demanding in the first term, predictable systems like this can provide comfort and a sense of control.

The values framework also supports pastoral work when it is used consistently. A short set of behaviours like the Foley Five is easy to reinforce in assemblies, in class conversations, and in parent communication, which can help children generalise expectations across settings.

Foley gives more detail than many infant schools about what pupils can do beyond standard lessons.

Friday enrichment (a distinctive feature)

The school describes an enrichment offer running on Friday afternoons during the remainder of the 2024 to 2025 period, positioned as additional to the standard 32.5-hour week. For EYFS, it continues as play-based provision using resources such as dressing up, with a focus on creative and social development. For Key Stage 1, the description includes games and sports, art, and structured time for online homework practice (spellings and early maths).

For parents, the implication is practical as well as educational: if most pupils stay, children are less likely to feel they are missing out by being collected later, and Friday becomes a stable part of the weekly routine.

Clubs, activities, and awards

In its curriculum overview, the school references a range of extra-curricular activities, including tennis, yoga, choir, gardening, and knitting. It also references awards such as Artsmark, Healthy Schools Award, and Activemark.

These specifics matter because they indicate breadth beyond the usual infant menu. Gardening and knitting, in particular, often create calmer spaces for children who do not gravitate to competitive sport, and choir can build confidence with speaking and listening, which feeds back into early literacy.

The school day runs 8:30am to 3:30pm Monday to Thursday, and 8:30am to 3:15pm on Fridays.

Wraparound care is provided by Kinver Garden Day Nursery. The published pricing states a breakfast club from 7:30am until the start of school for £5.50, and after-school provision until 6:00pm at £5 per hour.

For transport and daily logistics, Foley’s setting in Kinver means most families will think for walkability, short car journeys, or local drop-off patterns rather than rail commuting. Families new to the area should still test the journey at peak time, especially if they are relying on wraparound finishing at 6:00pm.

• Oversubscription is not theoretical. Recent application-to-offer numbers indicate more families want places than the school can offer. If Foley is a first preference, include realistic backup options as well.

• Nursery does not equal Reception. Little Acorns is part of the same site, but the trust admissions arrangements are explicit that nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place.

• Friday enrichment may shape family routines. Many children reportedly remain in school on Fridays for enrichment. That suits many working families, but parents who prefer early Friday collection should check how that feels socially for their child.

• The school dog approach is structured, but it is still a dog. Pip is managed through permissions and clear routines, which will reassure most families. Those with allergies or strong anxieties should ask how interactions are handled day-to-day for their child.

Foley Infant School Academy looks like a well-organised, literacy-focused infant school with unusually clear information on enrichment, routines, and wraparound. The Good inspection profile supports that this is a solid choice for early years and Key Stage 1. Best suited to local families who value structured early reading, a clear values framework, and practical weekly rhythms, especially those who need consistent wraparound and a Friday enrichment pattern.