Samuel White's Infant School

Samuel White's Infant School is a highly effective and nurturing school. Inspectors found exceptional early years provision and strong standards across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils achieve consistently well, attendance is high, behaviour is excellent, and pupils feel safe, happy and valued. The school's inclusive support for vulnerable pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, is a notable strength. Leaders, governors and trustees are ambitious and work closely with staff to maintain high standards, while parents are overwhelmingly positive about the caring and passionate staff and the nurturing environment. The school is federated with the junior school next door and is part of The Leaf Trust. The main area for continued development is curriculum implementation, so that exceptional teaching is sustained across the school and has a transformational impact on all pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. No inspected area was graded below strong standard, and early years provision was judged exceptional.

Strengths

• Early years provision is exceptionally nurturing, ambitious and inclusive.
• Children, including the most vulnerable and those with SEND, flourish and achieve impressively well in early years.
• Pupils make strong progress and achieve consistently above average in national assessments.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND achieve well and are extremely well supported.
• Pupils become fluent readers, accurate writers and confident mathematicians.
• Attendance is high and improving, with very few persistently absent pupils.
• Behaviour is excellent, with pupils showing respect, empathy, self-discipline and integrity.
• The curriculum is highly ambitious, coherent and tailored to pupils' developing needs.
• Teaching is consistently effective, using assessment well to address misconceptions.
• Inclusion is a major strength; leaders quickly identify and remove barriers for vulnerable pupils.
• Leadership and governance are strong, with clear vision and effective oversight.
• Staff professional development and wellbeing are well supported.
• Personal development is rich, inclusive and prepares pupils well for life beyond school.
• Pupils feel safe, happy, valued and have a strong sense of belonging.
• Parents overwhelmingly recommend the school and appreciate its caring, nurturing environment.
• Safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation should continue improving so that exceptional teaching is sustained across the school, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.

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 Samuel White's Infant School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.6% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Samuel White's 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 Samuel White's Infant School had 22.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.0% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Samuel White's Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 2024–25 Samuel White's Infant School received £6,343 and spent £6,650 for each of its 246 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £48,000 (£196 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of The Leaf Trust, income was £6,841 and spending £6,882 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bristol · Bristol, City of local authority: places and applications

Samuel White's Infant School is part of The Leaf Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• Hanham Abbots Junior School Bristol
• Two Mile Hill Primary School Bristol
• Cadbury Heath Primary School Bristol
• St Barnabas Church of England Primary School Bristol
• Kings' Forest Primary School Bristol
• The Tynings Primary School Staple Hill
• Staple Hill Primary School Bristol
• Stanbridge Primary School Bristol
• Mangotsfield Church of England Primary School Bristol
• Emersons Green Primary School Bristol

What is Samuel White's Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Samuel White's Infant School is Strong standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Samuel White's Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Samuel White's Infant School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Samuel White's Infant School have?

Samuel White's Infant School has 263 pupils on roll.

What age range does Samuel White's Infant School cover?

Samuel White's Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Samuel White's Infant School?

Samuel White's Infant School is at Abbots Avenue, Hanham, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, BS15 3PN.