Banwell Primary School

Banwell Primary School

Address: West Street, Banwell, Somerset, BS29 6DB Unique reference number (URN): 148903

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders’ targeted work has led to clear improvements in pupils’ attendance and behaviour. In this small school, where individual pupils account for a high percentage, rates of attendance are improving and are now broadly in line with the national average. Leaders carefully check pupils' attendance to identify families who need help overcoming barriers preventing their children from attending school regularly. Tailored actions are having a demonstrable impact, particularly for pupils with more complex needs. Effective multi ‑ agency work and appropriate adaptations for medical, sensory and social needs mean many pupils now attend school well.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders have increased staff expertise to manage pupils’ behaviour. Consistent approaches and positive reinforcement contribute to a calmer, more purposeful climate. Strategies such as 'Wow Walls', 'Shout Outs' and the 'Merit System', which celebrate pupils' achievements, secure strong buy ‑ in from pupils. Personalised adjustments, such as quieter dining spaces and restorative approaches, support vulnerable pupils well. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are increasingly able to successfully identify, and appropriately respond to, their emotions.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils typically behave respectfully and conduct themselves well around school. They understand the school's routines and respond positively to adults’ expectations. Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning are evident and they show courteous relationships during play. Bullying is not tolerated and is dealt with quickly when it occurs. Pupils feel safe.

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Early years Expected standard

The early years curriculum delivery and provision have improved considerably. These support children’s wide-ranging developmental needs effectively. Leaders identify children’s needs swiftly. Teaching staff adapt their teaching, the classroom and the outdoor environment to address gaps, for example providing targeted support for gross and fine motor development, mark making and language acquisition. High ‑ quality interactions between staff and children promote children’s language, vocabulary and phonics knowledge. It is in the early years that children are first introduced to the love of stories, rhymes and songs. Children enjoy sharing books with each other.

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Early years Expected standard

Children typically sustain their learning well, applying prior knowledge in areas such as phonics, early reading and early mathematics. They demonstrate secure progress across the 7 areas of learning. Relationships and routines successfully support children’s personal and emotional development through cooperative play, clear expectations and individualised support when needed. Children learn to focus and problem-solve. For example, they help each other to build marble runs successfully. Leaders regularly check children's knowledge and skills to plan their next steps effectively.

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Early years Expected standard

Parents and carers work alongside staff to enable children to settle quickly. Children benefit from a safe and nurturing start. As a result, they are generally well prepared for Year 1, with most achieving the early years foundation stage national expectations.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have a precise understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They use this insight to plan, action and review priorities systematically. This is contributing to the rapid improvement across the school. Their decisions are demonstrably in pupils’ best interests. This work began in September 2025 with strengthening pupils' attendance, behaviour, wellbeing and the identification of additional needs. There is a relentless drive to remove barriers to learning and ensure a safer, more supportive climate.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff's workload, wellbeing and professional development have improved because leaders have introduced clearer expectations, improved communication and provided time and appropriate support. Staff feel increasingly more confident, knowledgeable and supported, particularly in recognising and meeting pupils’ needs.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Trust leaders have played a pivotal role in stabilising the school following previous weaknesses. Strategic actions, including leadership changes, strengthened special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) systems and high ‑ quality training, have built capacity and raised expectations. These have significantly improved curriculum delivery, phonics, early years and inclusion. Stakeholder confidence is increasing, with parents more positive about the stability and direction provided by the new leadership team.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Governance is effective and contributes strongly to school improvement. Governors fulfil statutory duties well, drawing on a broad evidence base to challenge leaders rigorously, monitor attendance and scrutinise the impact of interventions. Their strengthened oversight of SEND and safeguarding ensures compliance and continual improvement. Trustees add an additional layer of strategic challenge, ensuring improvement work is sustained.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Overall, leaders and governors provide effective, well ‑ aligned strategic direction that is improving staff practice, strengthening provision and securing increasingly positive outcomes for pupils.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school’s personal development and wellbeing offer is coherently constructed. It enhances the school's curriculum and contributes positively to pupils’ confidence, resilience and wider character development. Leaders have improved the quality and consistency of provision, adapting classroom environments to promote pupils’ self-reliance, for example through resource stations where pupils are responsible for their own learning equipment. The wider curriculum contributes effectively to pupils’ cultural development. Carefully considered opportunities to deepen pupils' understanding of faiths, cultures and moral concepts are supported by church partnerships and enriching educational visits.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The wider offer is expanding, with the introduction of parent and carer workshops and new clubs that respond to pupils’ talents and interests. Pupil voice is becoming more influential through whole-school surveys and the school council. These opportunities help pupils recognise the value of participation and leadership. Pupils value the experiences that build their independence, responsibility and preparedness for future learning and life, such as the 'snack cafe' in the early years and residential visits. Pupils show a well ‑ developed understanding of fundamental British values and can apply these meaningfully to their lives.

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Needs attention

They are advocates of equity of opportunity and treatment in school, where those who need additional support and resources are provided with them to make them equal.

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Needs attention

The personal, social, health and economic education curriculum, enriched by workshops from visitors, helps pupils prepare for life beyond school. As a result, pupils articulate a secure understanding of how to stay safe, including online. They demonstrate secure awareness of relationships education. Pupils know the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Older pupils learn about puberty and the changes that will happen to their bodies. Pupils are confident that adults will respond effectively when concerns arise.

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Achievement Needs attention

Previous weaknesses mean that too many pupils have not secured their speaking and listening, reading, writing and mathematical knowledge sufficiently well by the end of Year 6. Pupils do not achieve well, particularly in mathematics. Leaders are taking appropriate action, but it is too soon to see the impact of this work across all areas of the curriculum.

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Achievement Needs attention

Work to close gaps in pupils' communication and mathematical knowledge is now evident. This is helping pupils to make progress through some curriculum subjects. Pupils' reading is improving. This is reflected in pupils' Year 1 phonics and Year 6 reading achievement in 2025. These green shoots of improvement are helping to better prepare pupils for the next stage of their education.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Teaching does not help pupils routinely secure key knowledge. Learning activities, for example in mathematics, are not always well matched to what pupils already know. Adaptations to aid pupils' learning are not consistently well matched to pupils' needs. This results in gaps in pupils' knowledge not being rectified.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders’ focus on improving teachers' checks of pupils' learning and feedback is beginning to have an early impact. More precise feedback has begun to improve the accuracy of pupils’ work. It is helping them correct errors and secure their knowledge, for example in letter formation. However, this is not yet consistent across classes.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

There is a logically ordered and ambitious curriculum in place. Leaders have accurately identified weaknesses that previously limited the curriculum's impact. They are using this insight to support staff in developing their teaching practice. For example, leaders have secured improvements to the teaching of early reading. Alongside carefully planned communication and language support, leaders are beginning to address gaps for pupils with previously unidentified speech and language needs. Pupils apply their phonics knowledge to reading with growing fluency and accuracy.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The teaching of some wider curriculum subjects, such as history, geography and religious education, is further developed. In these subjects, pupils are supported to recall their prior learning and vocabulary.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Support for pupils to overcome barriers to learning and wellbeing is inconsistent. Leaders had not ensured that staff secured their knowledge of when and how to adapt their teaching to meet pupils' needs. More recently, with support from skilled leaders and completion of appropriate training, staff are learning how to identify pupils' specific needs.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The identification of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities has improved. Pupils' emerging needs are now spotted promptly and planned for more precisely. Staff's increasing knowledge and expertise are helping to increase their confidence. This is contributing to the more consistent implementation of inclusive classroom practices. For example, leaders' focus on introducing effective routines and ensuring that pupils are given the resources and support to be ready to learn means classrooms are calm and orderly.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders work effectively with external specialists. These experts work with staff to ensure that their advice is implemented and reviewed. Parents' and carers’ views now inform provision through improved communication, meetings and transition support. Disadvantaged pupils are benefiting from individualised support, for example in the use of additional funding to close knowledge gaps, learning to recognise their emotions and increased enrichment experiences, such as after-school clubs.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

In lessons, pupils enjoy reading and engage positively with tasks. In some subjects, pupils struggle to complete their work and secure new knowledge when the learning is not closely matched to their level of understanding. Leaders and staff are starting to close gaps in pupils' reading, writing and mathematical knowledge. However, it is too soon to see the impact on pupils' academic achievement.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are starting to benefit from emerging inclusive practice. Adaptations such as sensory circuits and tailored support help pupils manage their emotions and settle into learning. Staff's growing expertise in identifying pupils’ needs means barriers are spotted earlier. Support to help pupils overcome these barriers is becoming more sharply aligned to the need. This contributes to increasingly equitable experiences, especially for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils experience a caring environment where they feel safe, listened to and well supported. They know whom to speak to if they have concerns. They say that bullying rarely happens. When it does, staff are quick to resolve any issues. Positive working relationships with staff contribute to pupils' calm conduct around the school. During lessons and playtimes, pupils demonstrate courtesy and respect for one another.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

The school offers pupils a range of enrichment opportunities. For example, leadership roles and wider personal development experiences, such as trips, clubs and the playground leaders and SEND council, are valued by pupils. These help them develop confidence,

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Team inspector:

Paul Smith, Ofsted Inspector independence, teamwork and a strong sense of fairness. Pupils understand fundamental British values well. As a result of leaders' improvement work, pupils are increasingly well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that teachers have the knowledge to use assessment information to make appropriate adaptations to their teaching to meet pupils' needs. Leaders should ensure that pupils consistently benefit from high-quality teaching that aligns learning activities and objectives, to secure their foundational knowledge and achieve well across the curriculum.

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About this inspection

This school is part of Extend Learning Academies Network, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Adam Matthews, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Rosemary Carr.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty's Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the executive headteacher, the head of school, the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo), the trust school effectiveness lead, staff and pupils. Inspectors also spoke with the CEO and representatives of the board of trustees and local governing board.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. The executive headteacher, the head of school and the SENDCo were appointed in September 2025.

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About this inspection

The school does not currently use alternative provision.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. National average: 26.3%

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 59% 62% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 73% 74% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2023/24 (final) 73% 72% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 59% ‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (2 term) 5.8% 5.2% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 5.6% 5.5% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 17.4% 14.6% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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