Bishop Henderson Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 18 November 2025

Warm and caring relationships form the bedrock of this school. Staff provide high-quality pastoral care. This helps pupils feel well cared for. Older pupils nurture their younger peers. The school's caring ethos begins in the early years, where children get off to a positive start to their schooling. Across the school, pupils feel safe and happy. Most pupils attend regularly and behave well. If bullying occurs, pupils know staff will deal with it. Pupils live out the school values of 'courage, compassion and creativity'. Through regular assemblies, pupils learn about and reflect on life in modern Britain and further afield. Events that bring the school community together, such as 'Victory in Europe Day', help pupils build relationships with different generations. Art exhibitions and parents' and carers' coffee mornings celebrate pupils' achievements and help foster a sense of belonging. Children in Nursery and Reception build secure foundations in their learning and development, such as knowledge of early reading, writing and numbers. As pupils move into key stage 1, they learn from a curriculum that builds on these foundations. Pupils typically achieve well by the end of key stage 2. However, aspects of the curriculum and teaching remain underdeveloped. Too many older pupils do not secure the key basic skills they need to thrive academically, such as using full stops and forming and joining letters accurately. Some pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not learn as well as they should. Leaders, including governors, do not check the quality of education for pupils with SEND with enough rigour. Typically, some pupils with individual support plans have targets that lack precision. This means some pupils do not receive the clear support they need to learn as well as they should.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should strengthen their strategic oversight of how well pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn so they can take appropriate action to reduce pupils' barriers to learning and improve their achievement.
• The school should ensure that it gives sufficient focus, as early as possible, to the basic writing skills and knowledge pupils need to be able to write with greater fluency and accuracy, particularly those in key stage 2 who have gaps in their learning.
• Leaders should analyse attendance data, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to identify patterns and barriers, so they can intervene early to improve attendance.
• Governors should ensure they develop their knowledge and skills to enable them to hold leaders to account more effectively for the quality of education pupils receive.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)