Willow Park School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 December 2024

Willow Park School welcomed its first pupils in January 2024 and is a place where everyone is valued. The school is highly ambitious for its pupils. Some pupils successfully show their achievements through a range of responses to books and songs. However, for other pupils, the school needs to support them further in achieving well. Relationships between pupils and staff are warm and respectful. The school provides a safe and nurturing environment for the pupils. There is a purposeful atmosphere around the school. At different times of the day, pupils can focus on some learning well. Pupils enjoy having stickers to celebrate success. Pupils love to fill the ball jar and receive rewards for their learning. Staff speak calmly with any pupil who loses concentration and offer support to help them regain focus effectively. Some pupils begin to develop their turn-taking skills. Pupils can communicate their feelings, including when they are happy or sad. The school gives pupils opportunities to show their personalities and develop some understanding of each other. Some pupils have jobs around school such as tidying and switching on/off lights. Pupils' own interests are celebrated through playing and staff talking about what pupils enjoy about themselves and their toys.

What the school should improve

• The school's ambitious vision is not yet fully realised. Currently, there is an inconsistency between practice and expectation. As a result, not all pupils are achieving well enough. The school needs to ensure that staff have the knowledge and guidance they need to implement the curriculum consistently well.
• In some curriculum areas, the school has not identified or sequenced well enough the knowledge that it would like pupils to learn over time. As a result, staff do not have sufficient guidance about the most important content they need to teach and emphasise. The school needs to implement its plans to refine its curriculum well.
• The school has not yet fully embedded a sharp focus on supporting all pupils at the earliest stages of reading. As a result, some pupils do not develop their reading skills as rapidly as they could. The school should ensure that all staff who deliver and support phonics receive the right training to develop their expertise in this area and enable all pupils to get off to the best possible start in learning to read.
• Teaching does not consistently take enough account of pupils' individual needs. As a result, sometimes activities are not adapted well enough to reflect pupils' needs or build on and address gaps in their previous learning. The school needs to refine its approaches to assessment so that teaching can more effectively and consistently meet pupils' needs.

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