Woodstock Primary Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 September 2023

'Everyone's welcome at Woodstock.' This vision for the school is clearly understood by all. Pupils appreciate, and pride themselves on, being part of the school community. It is a calm and safe place for all. As one pupil told inspectors: 'I used to worry about school and now school is a much happier place.' The school rules of 'be respectful, resilient and ready to learn,' are lived out by most pupils. In lessons, most pupils concentrate well. Pupils enjoy their lunchtimes because sports coaches help them to play games cooperatively. The 'Peace Agents' keep an eye out for anyone who may need a friend during social times. A few pupils continue to need support to manage their behaviour. They are well supported during the school day. They learn to regulate and understand their emotions. Pupils are confident that adults will quickly deal with any incidents of bullying. Pupils study a curriculum that is logical and well sequenced in most subjects. However, this is not the case for all curriculum areas, including in writing. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not always get the right support to learn more of the school's curriculum.

What the school should improve

• The school's curriculum for writing is disjointed and does not build logically. This does not help pupils to improve their writing and limits how well they are prepared for their next stage in education. Leaders must ensure their curriculum for writing is coherent and logical. They must ensure that staff have the right expertise to deliver this curriculum.
• Systems and routines to support pupils with SEND are not implemented consistently. This creates barriers to learning for pupils with SEND and does not help them to succeed fully. The school must ensure that all pupils with SEND receive effective teaching as well as the right support and equipment to access the curriculum. The school must ensure that pupils with SEND learn the school's planned curriculum with increasing autonomy and confidence.
• Approaches to assessment are not consistently used across the curriculum. This does not help teachers to identify what pupils already know, what needs to be revisited or address pupils' next steps in a coherent way. The school must ensure that approaches to formative and summative assessment are well developed to enable pupils to know and remember more over time.
• Children in the early years do not develop their basic communication and language in a systematic way. This creates gaps in children's language acquisition and does not prepare the most disadvantaged children well for key stage one and beyond. The school must carefully consider the sequence for early language development and ensure that there is a sharp focus on all children developing early communication and vocabulary.

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