PUPILS have voted on a change of name for their school.

Godolphin Infant School in Warrington Avenue, Slough has changed its name to the ‘Phoenix Infant Academy’ following a pitch from their students. The school’s headteacher, Kevin Oakley, was asked by its school councillors, who are elected from amongst the students, about changing the school name. This was shared with the school’s leadership team, who felt the time was right to mark the significant changes they made since the school was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in 2014. The school has now stepped up a rank to ‘Requires Improvement’, with inspectors noting that staff were “ensuring swift further improvement, with work to improve teaching having proving very effective.”

The two other names being voted on were the Unity Infant Academy and the Sir William Herschel Infant Academy. Superintendent Sarah Grahame, Thames Valley Police commander for Slough, visited the school to cast the first vote.

Phoenix Infant School said: “Needless to say Mr Oakley was apprehensive when the process started, but feels it is vital that the children have a voice. The parents and children have been very passionate about their views, and came out in their masses to cast their vote.

“We felt very strongly that the children were the driving force behind this, with the aspiration that one day a grandparent will be explaining proudly to their grandchild – on their first day of school – how they were part of the naming process.”