Woodlands

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 March 2025

The school is ambitious for what all pupils should achieve. Pupils make great strides in their personal development during their time at Woodlands. However, in some curriculum subjects, pupils' achievement is more variable. In part, this is because the school has not sufficiently clarified its ambitions for the knowledge that pupils will learn in these subjects. This prevents pupils from achieving well across the full curriculum. Pupils develop strong bonds with staff at this nurturing school. This helps pupils to feel secure and cared about. They are safe and happy and feel content. Pupils receive highly effective individualised support to reconnect with their schooling. Over time, pupils successfully transition back into mainstream education because of the support that they receive. The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour. It helps pupils to manage their emotions increasingly well. Pupils conduct themselves appropriately during the school day. The school takes effective action when pupils have occasional concerns about bullying. Pupils benefit from a wide range of trips and experiences. For example, pupils visit a beach to learn about erosion in coastal areas and go to cotton mills when they study the Industrial Revolution. Pupils also experience many enrichment activities, such as snowboarding, bouldering and skateboarding.

What the school should improve

• In several subjects, the school has not completed its curriculum thinking. By extension, it has not developed full schemes of work that identify the components of knowledge that pupils will learn and the order in which it will be taught. This sometimes hinders staff from delivering some curriculums effectively, which impacts how well pupils can learn. The school should finalise the design of the curriculum, ensuring that underpinning schemes of work are in place.
• Many teaching staff are new to their roles. Occasionally, they are not equipped to deliver curriculums well. This sometimes leads to pupils not acquiring the most important knowledge. The school should ensure that staff have the guidance and expertise to deliver subject curriculums consistently well.
• The proprietor does not have a sufficient oversight of the quality of the curriculum. This means that deficiencies in the curriculum have not been addressed as swiftly as they could. This sometimes impacts negatively on the quality of education that pupils receive. The proprietor should ensure that it gains a more robust insight into how well the curriculum is designed and delivered, so that issues can be addressed in a timely manner.

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