Wooburn Green Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 May 2022

There is a close-knit community at Wooburn Green. Every child is known. Adults do their best in 'growing learners for the future'. Pupils are happy to come to school. They feel safe in the friendly atmosphere that leaders cultivate. Leaders ensure that pupils are kept busy and interested. Pupils adore the 'forest school', especially after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. They get to work as a team, cook on a campfire and build dens. Furthermore, leaders promise pupils a 'bucket list' of 15 memorable opportunities. This includes everything from performing circus skills and watching a live orchestra to being by the seaside. Some pupils may not have experienced these before. Bullying does not worry pupils. They feel protected and know they can call on an adult to help. Calmness flows in classrooms, and pupils work hard. From the beginning of Nursery, children learn how to behave the right way. The school's six core values underpin this successfully. Teachers aim high for all pupils. The curriculum is broad, with the right emphasis on the core skills of literacy and mathematics. Coming out of the pandemic, there is some work to do to ensure that pupils learn the right knowledge in every subject.

What the school should improve

• Leaders have not yet identified the precise component knowledge pupils should learn in some subjects. Furthermore, not all subject leaders are clear about how knowledge builds cumulatively from early years into key stage 1. However, leaders are well on their way to constructing a curriculum that outlines all that pupils need to know from Nursery to Year 6. They are also supporting subject leaders' curriculum thinking. For this reason, the transition arrangements have been applied.
• Teachers do not always set work that will enable pupils to develop knowledge. Activity choices can be focused on enjoyment rather than what pupils must learn. Leaders need to develop staff's teaching content knowledge so they can effectively deliver what the curriculum outlines.
• Older pupils do not necessarily access a broad enough range of books. This is limiting their wider knowledge and vocabulary. Leaders need to check that once pupils are reading fluently, they have ample opportunities to access high-quality literature.

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