Woodlea Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

There is a culture of low expectations at this school.

Over time, leaders have not been accurate and open in their evaluation of the education pupils receive. They have not acted with enough urgency to bring about improvements in the curriculum and, therefore, how well pupils learn. Recent work is starting to address this but, for too long, leaders have shown an ongoing acceptance of poor outcomes.

Despite this, pupils are happy to be at school. They feel safe and well looked after. This is because they know they have adults who care about them.

Staff encourage pupils to be considerate and show kindness to each other. They are clear in their expectations abou...t behaviour. This means that most pupils behave well, engage in their learning and build positive relationships.

Pupils are not worried about bullying. They are rightly confident that staff deal swiftly with any incidents.

Pupils enjoy their opportunities for outdoor learning.

Staff make sure that pupils know how to be safe when exploring the school's woodland setting. Pupils understand the environmental importance of caring for their school's habitat and wildlife. They also recognise how their time spent with nature benefits their mental and physical health.

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

Leaders show a lack of ambition for pupils. They are too ready to make excuses for pupils' poor outcomes. Over time, governors have not been provided with the comprehensive information they need.

This has hindered their ability to hold school leaders to account sufficiently well. Governors knew that areas of the school needed to improve. However, they have not shown persistence in securing the information they need to inform and drive necessary improvement.

There is a shared acknowledgment now that pupils have been let down.

Recent improvements in the curriculum have been driven by individual staff members, alongside considerable support from the local authority and other professionals. As a result, there is now a coherent curriculum in place across the school.

In most subjects, teachers now have a clear understanding about the key knowledge and skills pupils need to learn.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge as a result of this recent support. They routinely adjust their teaching to support pupils' learning and address deficiencies in the previous curriculum.

In many subjects, pupils are now being helped to make links between their current learning and what came earlier. This is particularly evident in physical education and mathematics.

Reading is now prioritised through an increased focus on effective phonics teaching.

Many children in Reception are able to use their phonics strategies when they are first learning to read. They have access to reading books which appropriately match the sounds they are learning. However, pupils are not as well supported across the school.

In particular, there has been unnecessary delay in ensuring that staff are trained to support older pupils with their reading.

Recent changes have improved the identification of and support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The special educational needs coordinator works closely with teachers across all subjects.

As a result, most pupils with SEND receive the support they need to access the full curriculum.

Similar developments in early years mean that children now benefit from a curriculum tailored to their needs. It is, however, still under review and too early to see a marked improvement in children's learning.

Teachers are preparing children for Year 1 appropriately through the teaching of early mathematics and reading. Children's physical strength and coordination are developed through woodland activities in the outdoor area. Staff know the children well and they are caring and kind in their approach.

However, they do not always capitalise on opportunities to develop children's language and communication skills.

Pupils benefit from the consideration given to their personal development. They enjoy their leadership roles and the responsibilities these bring.

Year 6 play leaders are kind and helpful in the way they set up games and activities for younger pupils. The 'Junior Road Safety Officers' work hard to promote environmental awareness through their travel plan actions.

Pupils enjoy a range of clubs and activities, which have included camping and sleepovers in the school grounds.

School-run sports clubs develop teams to participate in local competitions. Pupils show great pride in their school's sporting achievements. Leaders give careful consideration to keeping participation costs low for all clubs and activities so that as many pupils as possible can be involved.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff and governors understand their safeguarding responsibilities. Staff know how to identify and report any worries about pupils.

They know that no concern is too small. Leaders follow up on these matters and ensure that families receive the support they need. Leaders routinely provide training updates to all staff and promote discussion about contextual safeguarding issues.

A strong commitment to supporting pupils' mental well-being adds an additional protective layer. Pupils feel safe at school and know they can talk to staff if they have any worries. Governors are diligent in the way they check the effectiveness of the school's safeguarding procedures.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Governors and school leaders have not acted decisively and quickly to tackle weaknesses in the school. They have been too slow in taking effective action to ensure significant improvements in pupils' learning. The governing body should continue to work with the local authority to secure the necessary improvements in leadership so that pupils get a better standard of education.

• Governors do not always have access to the information they need to be able to hold leaders to account. This means that they are not able to accurately evaluate the impact of leaders' actions. Governors should be tenacious in the way they persist in obtaining the information they need to be able to perform their role.

• Reading is not taught consistently well in all year groups. This means that older pupils, in particular, are not acquiring the skills they need to read fluently and access the curriculum. Leaders should continue to train all staff and ensure consistency in phonics teaching across the school.

• In early years, staff do not pay sufficient attention to developing children's vocabulary and communication skills. As a result, children's language is not as well developed as it should be. Leaders should ensure that all staff in early years are experts in and nurturing children's language skills.

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