Burman Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this school. They feel happy in its welcoming environment.

Pupils are valued and known well by staff. The Burman values are embraced by the whole school community, fostering collaboration and mutual support for all. The school is ambitious for pupils.

However, pupils do not achieve as well as they need to. They have gaps in their understanding that mean they are not fully prepared for their next stage of learning.

Pupils follow the clear expectations for behaviour well.

They enjoy coming to school and settle quickly because of clear routines. Learning behaviours are reinforced well using familiar characters such as 'Ruth Resili...ence' and 'Ron Reflective'. These characters support pupils to develop a range of personal attributes including how to approach challenges.

The school also engages with wider community projects, demonstrated in their recent participation in the Solihull 'Egg Superheroes' project, where pupils' egg creations were displayed.

Burman Infant School fosters a positive, warm and caring atmosphere. Parents and carers are invited to 'showcase' sessions to see pupils' learning come to life.

This reinforces strong home-school connections and celebrates pupils' achievements.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

This school is led well. The school has addressed the improvement areas identified during the previous inspection.

The school's dedicated and ongoing efforts are leading to promising signs of progress and growth. However, there are still some further improvements to be made in some areas to ensure that pupils achieve as well as they should.

The school has implemented a structured curriculum across all subjects, setting out the essential knowledge and skills that pupils need to know.

The curriculum is creative and interconnected, enabling pupils to apply their learning across different subjects. For example, pupils use mathematical skills to calculate growth in science experiments. However, in some subjects, the work pupils are asked to do does not connect clearly to the knowledge and skills that leaders intend them to learn.

Consequently, pupils struggle to connect new learning with previous knowledge and sometimes form misconceptions.

The teaching of early reading is a strength of the school and published outcomes in phonics are rising. Pupils are taught by expert staff.

Pupils' phonics books are well matched to the sounds that they have learned. Gaps in pupils' knowledge are swiftly identified, and catch-up sessions are in place. The school promotes a love of reading by encouraging pupils to take 'sharing books' home.

In addition, the school has a wide variety of carefully selected books to choose from with a range of different cultures represented for pupils to access. In early years, children learn carefully selected stories and rhymes throughout the year to help with their early reading skills.

There is additional support in place for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

However, adults do not consistently adapt activities well enough to help all pupils access the intended curriculum. This is often because the activities are not well matched to pupils' individual needs. This slows the learning of some pupils.

There are clear systems and procedures in place to ensure that pupils attend well. When pupils do not attend regularly enough there is effective support for families to encourage this to improve.

There is lots on offer for pupils' personal development.

For example, some pupils enjoy being a school councillor and making a difference to the school. Pupils learn about other cultures and show respect for others. Daily 'calm me' time teaches pupils valuable skills in how to manage their own feelings and emotions.

This promotes positive mental health. Pupils have various opportunities to explore and enhance their talents and interests through a diverse selection of clubs and visits.

The governing body has undergone some changes since the last inspection.

New members have joined and added strength and wider expertise to the existing governors. Governors take a keen interest in what is taught at the school. They challenge and support the school effectively.

Staff, including those new to the profession, feel well-supported by leaders in balancing their well-being and workload. They appreciate the professional development opportunities available to them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, the work given to pupils, including in the early years, does not focus sufficiently on the knowledge that pupils need to know. Consequently, pupils struggle to connect new learning with previous knowledge and sometimes form misconceptions. The school needs to ensure that staff are supported to develop activities that focus on the important skills and knowledge pupils need for future learning.

• Sometimes, staff do not adapt the learning for pupils with SEND as effectively as they could. In these instances, pupils with SEND struggle to build secure knowledge over time. The school should support staff to become skilled in adapting the learning consistently to meet the needs of all pupils.

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