Woodcroft Primary

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Staff put pupils first at this school. Pupils are well cared for and are known as individuals.

Leaders have worked hard to ensure the school is a calm, orderly place where pupils can learn. Pupils and parents all recognise the improvements leaders have brought about. They value the positive impact the headteacher has had on improving behaviour at the school.

Pupils say, 'We are all learning now, our classroom is calm. We listen to our teachers because we have school values which help us.' Adults support pupils effectively when incidents of bullying occur.

This quick action stops it from happening again.

Pupils have many opportunities to participate i...n a wide variety of clubs and trips. These include trips into London, visits to farms, outdoor learning opportunities, sporting clubs and residential visits.

Pupils enjoy these. Many pupils say, 'The best part of school is all the trips we go on.' The trips and clubs inspire pupils, encouraging curiosity and building aspirations.

Leaders know that pupils have not made the academic progress they should in the past. Leaders have well-considered plans to address this. Where leaders have already introduced changes, these have had a positive impact for pupils.

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

Leaders have designed a broad curriculum. In all subjects, they have identified the skills that pupils need to learn from Reception to Year 6. In some subjects, for example mathematics, leaders have also identified the key knowledge that pupils need to remember.

Here, teachers know exactly what to teach and they provide tasks that enable most pupils to achieve well.

However, this is not the case in all subjects. In some, for example art and geography, leaders have not identified the essential knowledge pupils need to learn.

The curriculum does not build in a logical sequence from Reception to Year 6.

Teachers do not routinely check pupils' understanding in lessons or how well they are remembering learning over time. Pupils do not readily recall information from lessons they participated in earlier in the academic year.

Activities pupils do are often memorable, but they do not always enable pupils to recall or apply subject-specific information. This prevents them from deepening their understanding and making accurate connections within subjects and across the curriculum. For example, in Year 1, pupils were taught about how artists use blue to represent sadness.

However, pupils could not justify their own use of blue to show this emotion when making a collage.

Leaders prioritise reading. They want all pupils to read with fluency and comprehension and to love reading.

Leaders have recently introduced a phonics programme to enable pupils at the early stages of learning to read to become fluent readers quickly. However, there is variability in how well this programme is delivered. A few teachers do not use effective strategies to teach reading.

This is because they have not received appropriate training. Also, books given to pupils to practise reading do not always match the sounds they know. This means that some pupils do not learn to read quickly enough.

Adults support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. Leaders have clear processes to identify pupils with SEND. Leaders use a wide range of strategies to meet the learning needs of pupils, including using external agencies when appropriate.

Leaders regularly check the impact of support and review this to ensure that pupils with SEND achieve as well as they should.

Leaders' work to support pupils' personal development is a strength. Leaders ensure that all pupils are prepared fully for life in modern Britain.

For example, in lessons, pupils enjoy opportunities to debate important questions. Through this, they learn how to listen to each other and take others' views into consideration. Through taking part in outdoor activities, pupils learn to care for the environment and how to grow their own food.

Trained adults ensure that all pupils know how to keep healthy both physically and mentally. Pupils state that they really appreciate this support.

Leaders and governors work closely together to develop a school which serves the local community.

The headteacher has taken steps to improve the school in a systematic manner. Leaders know what needs to be done to continue this improvement journey. Staff are proud to work at this school.

They are fully committed to working together to ensure that the school continues to improve.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have established a strong culture of vigilance.

They work as an effective team to ensure that all pupils and families in need of extra support receive the help they need swiftly. Detailed record-keeping and weekly safeguarding meetings identify the actions staff take to help pupils. Pupils are confident that they will be helped.

They say that staff teach them how to stay safe and ask for help.

Pupils learn about online safety in assemblies and through computing lessons. They know how to keep themselves safe online and how to report concerns when exploring the virtual world.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Phonics is not taught well across the school. Staff do not always use the most effective strategies to teach pupils to read, including ensuring that pupils read books that match their phonic knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that all staff are trained to implement all aspects of the chosen phonics programme effectively.

• Curriculum planning does not give teachers precise guidance in each subject about the knowledge pupils need to learn from Reception to Year 6. As a result, pupils are not achieving as well as they should. Leaders need to ensure all subjects are ambitious in content and that knowledge is developed in a coherent sequence from Reception to Year 6.

• Teachers do not provide opportunities for pupils to use and apply their knowledge within subjects. Pupils do not remember their learning over time as well as they should. Leaders need to ensure that teachers' subject and pedagogical content knowledge improves so that they can use effective strategies to enable pupils to transfer knowledge into long-term memory.

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