Woodlands Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive and are happy at this caring, welcoming school. They treat one another with respect and greet visitors warmly. In lessons, they are eager, confident learners who have highly positive attitudes to learning.

Pupils typically praise the school for its 'respectful atmosphere' and the kindness of staff. The small teaching groups provide pupils with the individual attention that helps them to learn.

Pupils' behaviour in lessons and around school is excellent.

They understand and respect the school's three 'golden rules' that help to keep them safe. The school supports pupils' social, emotional and mental health needs very well. Trained staff provide s...ensitive guidance and support for any pupils who require practical help or who simply need to talk.

If a pupil struggles to control their emotions, staff calmly step in to offer support. This helps pupils to stay safe and return to learning when they are ready.

The school provides an exceptional range of opportunities to enhance pupils' personal development, including, for example, through choir performances in the city, residential experiences, local walks, community ventures and art exhibitions.

There is a notable tradition of international journeys to Poland and Egypt. These cultural opportunities encourage independence and nurture pupils' talents exceptionally well.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has revised the curriculum in all areas.

This has included the introduction of three curriculum pathways. Pupils are placed in the yellow, green or blue pathway according to the complexity of their special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Currently, the school is reviewing and refining a small number of subjects to ensure that pupils achieve as highly as possible across the curriculum.

Within each pathway, the curriculum is carefully sequenced so that pupils gain increasingly secure knowledge and skills. There is a constant focus on preparing pupils for adulthood and their next steps beyond the school. To that end, pupils access courses that closely match their interests and abilities and promote independence.

This may include working towards a range of accreditations and formal qualifications or gaining valuable workplace experience. The school works effectively with an ever-increasing network of further education providers and employers.

The school prioritises communication and reading.

There is a systematic approach to teaching early reading and phonics. Well-trained staff provide consistent teaching. Pupils read from books that match the sounds they know.

They develop well as increasingly fluent readers. Pupils who communicate by methods such as signing, or symbols, receive equally skilled support. The whole school benefits from learning new signs in the weekly celebration assembly.

In mathematics, pupils in all three pathways engage in well-planned learning activities that are tailored to their additional needs. Staff are ambitious for pupils to achieve. They deftly adapt their teaching to respond to any misunderstandings.

The school has identified the broader assessment of pupils' achievement as an area for development. There is a particular focus on ensuring that the pupils in the yellow pathway, who have the most complex needs, fulfil their potential. However, the school does not track pupils' achievements in relation to the targets from their education, health and care (EHC) plans closely enough.

Broad targets from the EHC plans are not systematically broken down into small, achievable steps that can be shared with staff who support individuals.

The school has high expectations for behaviour and attendance. An atmosphere of calm and purpose permeates the school.

Decisions around the use of alterative provision are taken in pupils' best interests. School and trust leaders work highly effectively as a team to monitor and reduce absences, involving external professionals when appropriate.

The school's unique 'life skills' curriculum promotes pupils' personal development exceptionally well, alongside the 'Five Cs' school values.

As a result, pupils become respectful, well-informed young citizens. They demonstrate strong understanding of fairness, equality, and important values such as democracy.

Leadership at all levels is strong, including governance.

Staff highly value the training they receive, and the support for their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not identify and track as precisely as it could pupils' achievements in relation to the broad targets in their EHC plans.

This means that staff do not receive clear guidance on how the broad targets these pupils have in their plans may be broken down into achievable steps of progress. This hinders the school's overview of these pupils' progress towards their targets, and the subsequent identification of any gaps in their knowledge and skills. The school should ensure that the assessment of pupils' achievements in relation to their EHC plan targets enable these pupils to receive sharply focused support so that they achieve as highly as possible.

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