Woburn Lower School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 5 December 2023

Pupils believe Woburn Lower School is a special place. They are immensely proud to be part of a learning community that has occupied the school's historic buildings for over 400 years. Pupils' enthusiasm for learning permeates the school. Their positive attitudes, along with adults' high expectations, result in most pupils achieving very well. Pupils regard the school's small size as a strength. They love the way everyone gets to know each other well. This includes the adults. The strong bonds that are formed between adults and pupils mean that pupils feel safe and happy at school. Adults model the behaviour they expect from pupils. They establish clear routines and high expectations from the moment children join the Reception class. These set the foundations for excellent behaviour as pupils move through the school. If pupils' enthusiasm leads them to forget the expectations, a gentle reminder gets them back on track. Pupils appreciate the many ways in which people are different. They value and respect diversity. The range of opportunities for pupils to contribute to the school community and develop their character is impressive. Roles such as house captains, ambassadors and school councillors enable pupils to develop leadership skills and responsibility from an early age.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, curriculum plans are not sufficiently precise. They do not identify endpoints for pupils, nor do they set out the sequence of learning pupils will follow to reach those endpoints. As a result, pupils do not learn as well in these subjects as the school would like them to. The school should ensure that the curriculum in these subjects precisely sets out the knowledge pupils should learn and the order in which they should learn it, so that all pupils reach the endpoints the school has identified for them.

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