Accrington Woodnook Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 March 2025

Pupils strive to live out the school's values of friendship, aspiration, independence and respect. This starts from the early years, where children enjoy interacting with one other and eagerly apply their learning in activities. Pupils celebrate the school's rich diversity and appreciate everyone's uniqueness. They behave well and contribute positively to the calm, happy, purposeful atmosphere in the school. The school wants the best for its pupils. Since the last inspection, it has developed its curriculum to improve pupils' learning. This includes in the early years, where children benefit from a rich curriculum that supports them to achieve well from their starting points. However, many of the curriculums in Year 1 to Year 6 are newly developed and have not fully impacted on what pupils know and remember. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should across the curriculum. Published results in 2024 were below average in phonics, reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils enjoy attending the range of extra-curricular activities on offer, including chess, football, music, computing and crafts. The school carefully considers how to broaden pupils' experiences through many trips and visitors to the school. This includes performing in a theatre, visiting a beach and working alongside authors and artists.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the key knowledge that pupils should know is not clearly defined. This makes it difficult for the school to ensure that the delivery of the curriculum helps pupils to build on their learning consistently and securely. The school should refine its curriculum thinking to ensure that pupils develop a depth of knowledge across all subjects.
• The writing curriculum is new and is not fully developed. It does not ensure that there is a sharp focus on addressing misconceptions or gaps in pupils' writing. Consequently, some pupils are not achieving as well as they could. The school should embed the delivery of the new writing curriculum to ensure that pupils develop the knowledge and skills that they need in writing to be ready for the next stage of their education.
• The school's work to develop the curriculum in many subjects is new. The implementation of these subject curriculums is still being embedded. Consequently, pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school should ensure that the curriculum is delivered consistently well so that pupils build knowledge securely over time.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)