Bishopswood Infant School

Bishopswood Infant School is a small, inclusive infant school forming part of the Bishopswood Schools Federation and the Synergy School Partnership. In this section 5 inspection, inspectors found the school is fulfilling the expected standard across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are happy, safe and well supported in a calm, caring environment. Leaders have built an ambitious, coherent curriculum with a strong focus on early reading and basic skills, and pupils generally achieve well, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. Attendance is improving and is above the national average, persistent absence has fallen, and behaviour is calm and respectful. Pastoral support is a particular strength, and pupils benefit from a broad personal development offer. The main areas for development are consistency rather than fundamental weakness. Writing is not yet taught consistently well enough, with gaps in spelling and letter formation sometimes not addressed promptly. Early years adult interactions vary in quality, disadvantaged pupils do not consistently benefit from enrichment, and leaders' and governors' monitoring does not always give sufficiently precise evaluation to drive improvement. Leaders are taking appropriate action to address these issues.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and are well supported in a warm and inclusive school.
• Behaviour is calm, respectful and orderly, with positive relationships between staff and pupils.
• Attendance is improving and is above the national average, while persistent absence has significantly reduced.
• Early reading and phonics are prioritised, with children beginning phonics as soon as they start school.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well supported and make secure progress from their starting points.
• The curriculum is ambitious, coherent and appropriately sequenced, and is continually refined to meet pupils' needs.
• Pastoral support is a strength, helping pupils regulate behaviour and build confidence.
• Pupils develop a secure understanding of diversity, equality, respect and keeping themselves safe.
• Leaders have an accurate view of the school's quality and take a strategic approach to improvement.
• Staff benefit from valuable professional development, and leaders consider wellbeing and workload.

Areas for Improvement

• The teaching of writing is not yet fully consistent, and gaps in spelling and letter formation are not always addressed promptly.
• Pupils' knowledge across the curriculum is more detailed in some subjects than others.
• The quality of adult interactions in early years varies, so not all children consistently receive high-quality language and thinking extension.
• Planned adaptations and support strategies are not implemented consistently across all classes.
• Curriculum and teaching improvements are not yet fully embedded and implemented consistently, including in early years.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not yet benefit consistently from enrichment opportunities.
• Governors do not yet have a sufficiently detailed understanding of the quality and impact of all aspects of the school's work.
• Monitoring systems do not always provide leaders and staff with sufficiently precise evaluative feedback to inform continuous improvement.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Bishopswood Infant School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.1% of pupils at Bishopswood Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Bishopswood Infant School had 23.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 6.3% of pupils at Bishopswood Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Bishopswood Infant School received £6,432 and spent £6,725 for each of its 174 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £35,000 (-£200 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Tadley · Hampshire local authority: places and applications

What is Bishopswood Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bishopswood Infant School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Bishopswood Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bishopswood Infant School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Bishopswood Infant School have?

Bishopswood Infant School has 174 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bishopswood Infant School cover?

Bishopswood Infant School for pupils aged 5 to 7.

Where is Bishopswood Infant School?

Bishopswood Infant School is at Barlows Road, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3NA.