Whitehorse Manor Infant School

Overview

Whitehorse Manor Infant School is described as a “happy and respectful” environment where pupils feel safe and are proud of their community. The inspection confirms that the school has improved significantly from its previous rating, with leaders maintaining high expectations for behaviour and achievement. Pupils benefit from a well-structured curriculum and strong support for reading, though some inconsistencies in teaching remain.

Strengths

• Reading is a clear priority, with children taught phonics effectively from Reception to ensure they read “fluently and confidently without delay.”
• Pupils display positive attitudes and “behave well in lessons,” creating purposeful learning environments where time is not disrupted.
• The curriculum is “well-structured” and builds on prior learning, with teachers demonstrating “secure subject knowledge.”
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are “effectively and quickly identified” and achieve well alongside their peers.
• Personal development is supported through a “well sequenced” PSHE curriculum, teaching pupils about consent, relationships, and treating others with respect.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, key skills and knowledge are not clearly set out, leading to “gaps in their learning” and misconceptions that leaders must address.
• Adults do not always “model language effectively,” meaning some pupils miss opportunities to acquire specific subject-related vocabulary and sentence structures.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”