Benhall Infant School

Overview

Benhall Infant School is described as a ‘special place’ where pupils succeed at being ‘the best they can be’. The report highlights a culture of ‘purple learning’, where children are ‘keen to learn from feedback, embrace challenge and persevere’. Leaders demonstrate an ‘unfaltering commitment’ to pupils and staff, fostering an environment where children are ‘confident, curious and caring’.

Strengths

• Staff construct an ‘ambitious and engaging curriculum’, offering widespread opportunities to excel in areas such as cooking, art, and science.
• Leaders have ‘successfully introduced a new and rigorous approach to phonics’, helping pupils read ‘confidently and fluently’.
• Pupils exhibit high standards of behaviour, adhering to ‘ready, respectful and safe’ expectations with ‘friendship issues and unkind behaviour’ being uncommon.
• Leaders provide an ‘impressive range of support and therapy’ for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), ensuring they ‘learn well alongside their peers’.
• The curriculum is enriched through trips and experiences, such as visits to a local castle and work with visitors, which broaden pupils’ ‘cultural awareness’.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ‘identify the essential knowledge that pupils need to learn in all subjects’, as pupils currently do not gain sufficient depth of understanding in a few areas.
• Leaders should ensure assessment systems in some foundation subjects check if pupils ‘know and remember the most important content in the long term’, as current systems are at an ‘early stage of development’.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders prioritising pupils’ safety and well-being through regular staff training and swift responses to concerns.