Woodgate Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The 'Woodgate family' welcomes everyone.

Parents and carers know that their children, no matter what their needs, will be well cared for. Woodgate has created a strong sense of belonging for its community. The school makes sure that families are well supported in the local area.

The Woodgate 'wardrobe' and 'pantry', for example, provide clothing and food for families, who welcome this.

Pupils know that they will be warmly greeted each morning when they arrive at school. They are eager to come to school and build strong relationships with staff.

Pupils trust that staff will keep them safe and know that staff will look out for them through the day.
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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are included in all aspects of the school's work. For example, all pupils take part in 'cultural days' and enjoy learning about each other's backgrounds and faiths.

Pupils appreciate the wide range of experiences available, including sports and theatre. These help pupils think about what they would like to do in the future. Staff are committed to helping pupils do their best and support them to 'become anything they want to be'.

Pupils value this and achieve well here.

Pupils know how they should conduct themselves. They behave well.

Pupils are courteous, holding doors open for others and talking politely to other pupils and visitors.

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

The school supports pupils well to become fluent readers. Over the past two years, the teaching of reading has improved.

In phonics, pupils learn to decode words well. Staff are skilled and they deliver the curriculum well. Teachers provide plenty of opportunity for pupils to practise their own decoding skills.

Carefully constructed activities help children in the early years pick up essential language skills in their learning and play. Working closely with parents, staff quickly identify and help any pupils struggling with their reading.

Teachers are skilled.

They have strong subject knowledge and often use this to ensure pupils develop a sound understanding of the things they are taught. Pupils enjoy their learning and approach tasks with enthusiasm. In mathematics, staff make sure they show pupils how best to solve problems before asking them to try examples for themselves.

Here, teachers quickly spot when pupils have made a mistake and adjust their teaching to resolve this. This helps pupils make strong progress. However, this is not always the case.

In some subjects, not all staff routinely check that pupils have understood the things they have been taught before moving on. This leads to gaps in learning and holds pupils back.

The school quickly identifies any difficulties that pupils with SEND have in accessing the curriculum.

Leaders and staff share expertise, which helps them determine how to present work in different ways to meet pupils' individual needs. As a result of this careful work, pupils with SEND learn well across the curriculum.

The school has successfully re-defined the curriculum in reading, writing and mathematics.

Pupils make strong gains in these subjects. Here, leaders check on pupils' progress and take appropriate action to support pupils and staff if needed. In other subjects, this is less well developed.

The school does not always check on the impact of some areas of the curriculum carefully enough and leaders are not always clear about how well pupils are learning. This limits the progress some pupils make in some subjects.

Attendance is improving.

Children develop good attendance habits in the early years. Leaders have introduced a range of motivating strategies to encourage good attendance. Pupils, along with their parents, value these.

For example, the 'HERO' scheme, 'here every day, ready on time', finds pupils keen to attend well. Pupils can also spend attendance points, which helps them develop financial awareness.

There is a calm and purposeful ethos in classrooms and around school.

The school recognises that some pupils find it tricky to concentrate for long periods. Staff know how best to support a pupil should they struggle. Staff are sensitive to pupils' needs and use their knowledge of pupils' interests to support pupils to behave well if needed.

Pupils are eager to read. Book corners in classrooms contain a range of well-chosen texts that spark pupils' interest and support their wider understanding of life in modern Britain. For example, through their reading, pupils develop a sound understanding of important themes such as diversity and belonging.

This includes learning about different kinds of relationships and what it means to follow different faiths. Reflective lessons help pupils think about their own backgrounds by considering those of others. The school is aspirational for pupils' next steps.

Leaders ensure that all pupils benefit from a range of visits and experiences that enable pupils to learn about future careers.

Governors actively support the school's commitment to providing every pupil with a strong education. Governors work closely with leaders and staff to continue to develop the Woodgate offer.

This support is leading to sustained improvement here.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, staff do not routinely check that pupils have understood the things they have been taught before moving on to new learning.

As a result, some children have gaps in their learning. Where this happens, pupils are held back. Leaders should ensure that staff make careful checks on pupils' learning and adapt their teaching to make sure all pupils have understood the things they have been taught.

• The school is not always rigorous enough in checking the effectiveness of subjects being taught. This means that leaders are not always clear on the aspects of their work that require the most urgent attention, and the specific refinements needed to improve subjects are not always addressed. Leaders should monitor the impact of their work carefully to build a clear view of how well pupils learn the intended curriculum across all subjects.

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