Woodhouse Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Woodhouse Primary Academy has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

The headteacher of this school is Oliver Wilson. This school is part of the Greenheart Learning Partnership Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Michelle Money, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sean Starr.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to school and enjoy the wide range of subjects they can study. They appreciate the lunchtime sporting equipment and activities on offer and clubs, such as 'sporty stars' where they ...can play dodgeball and football.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils to do well.

They are rightly proud of the school's inclusive nature. The school's resource base for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) known as the 'rainbow room' is an example of this. Pupils are fully integrated into lessons and the life of the school, wherever possible.

Pupils achieve well from their different starting points.

Pupils behave well. The school's nurturing ethos, where pupils can dream and plan for their future, is in line with the trust's values of 'being, belonging, becoming'.

Pupils can also write their dreams and worries on their 'three houses' as another way to alert staff of any worries or concerns they have.

When there are any issues, pupils are confident that an adult always deals with them well. They feel safe in school and know how to keep themselves safe, for example, online.

The school makes sure pupils know who their trusted adults are and who they can talk to.

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

The school has designed an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum that is designed to include pupils whatever their needs or starting points, including those in the specialist SEND resource base.

Reading starts very early in the school year from Reception onwards where children enjoy the reading corner.

Staff deliver the phonics programme consistently well. Children with additional needs in the early years access phonics at an appropriate level. Older pupils are also able to access the phonics programme at a level matched to the letters and sounds they know.

As a result, pupils at an early stage of reading gain in their confidence to become fluent readers. The school considers opportunities for pupils to develop their reading skills, for example meeting authors and illustrators online to develop their storytelling techniques. Older pupils benefit from effective mentoring and support to develop their understanding of what they read.

All pupils experience a broad curriculum, with bespoke programmes for those who need it. There is early identification in Reception and throughout the school for pupils who have SEND and new arrivals who are learning English as an additional language. This ensures that work set is appropriate and linked to the intended curriculum for pupils.

For example, pupils who have just joined the school from overseas learn key vocabulary linked to what is being taught.

Children in Reception are constantly exposed to mathematics activities through teacher-led and other activities. As a result, children confidently develop their mathematic skills and can, for example, distinguish between 'longer and shorter' and 'odd and even'.

There are many sensory resources to support pupils with SEND who need them.

In English and mathematics, teachers check consistently well what pupils have learned and what they still need to know. However, this is not as consistent in some other subjects.

In these cases, teachers are not as clear where there may be gaps and misconceptions to address.

Pupils attend school regularly and suspensions are extremely rare. Pupils show respect for each other in the way they work and play together.

They embrace the school's values in their conduct and attitudes. They enjoy the various clubs and activities available, such as mathematics, sign language, knitting and learning to play a musical instrument, including the guitar.

Pupils contribute to the wider life of the school.

For example, older pupils help younger ones in the Nursery. Pupils show an understanding of school rules and voting for the school council and cabinet, but their understanding of the concept of fundamental British values is more variable. This is despite the extensive work the school has done to promote them.

Leaders and representatives of the trust are very mindful of staff's workload. They have taken steps to remove any unnecessary tasks and ensure that those with leadership roles have time to manage their areas of responsibility.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is inconsistency in the school's approach to checking pupils' learning in the wider curriculum subjects. As a result, some gaps in knowledge and misconceptions are not always addressed. The school should ensure that systems for checking pupils' learning are consistent across each subject.

• Some older pupils have a limited understanding of British values. As result, they cannot articulate what concepts such as democracy and tolerance mean and how they can demonstrate them. The school should ensure that pupils have a secure understanding of the themes that encompass British values.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in December 2019.

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