A York school ‘requires improvement’, according to its Ofsted report.
Inspectors visited Woodthorpe Primary School on 25 January and published their verdict on Thursday.
There were many positives in the report but Ofsted identified weaknesses in certain areas, including subject leadership, early years teaching and pupils’ understanding of British values.
Woodthorpe Primary School, part of the South Bank Multi Academy Trust, has 442 children aged three to 11.
Ofsted inspectors found that: “Pupils love coming to school. They feel that their teachers are fair. There are warm and caring relationships between staff and pupils… They say that bullying does not happen.”
Students do well in maths and English. “However, in wider curriculum subjects, pupils sometimes find it hard to remember what they have been taught.
“This is because the curriculum is not designed to build on what pupils already know,” the report states.
The report goes on: “Some leaders of foundation subjects do not have the expertise needed to develop the curriculum in their subject.
“They are unable to identify the precise knowledge that they want pupils to learn and when they need to learn it. As a result, leaders are unable to support teachers to deliver the curriculum effectively.”
Lacking expertise
The report adds: “Some leaders of foundation subjects do not have the expertise needed to develop the curriculum in their subject.
“They are unable to identify the precise knowledge that they want pupils to learn and when they need to learn it. As a result, leaders are unable to support teachers to deliver the curriculum effectively.”
Inspectors also saw room for improvement in the teaching of younger pupils. “In the early years, children do not achieve as well as they could.
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“While there are a range of appealing activities for children to engage with, they do not develop their knowledge.
“This is because the curriculum does not set out what children need to know and be able to do to prepare them for Year 1.”
The school is praised for its support for children with special needs, its strong culture of safeguarding, and its work to support pupils’ mental health in the light of the pandemic.
“However, some aspects of the personal development curriculum are less well established. Pupils do not understand fundamental British values, including democracy, and have a limited appreciation of other faiths,” the report says.
It puts forward three things the school needs to improve:
- delivering the curriculum effectively
- creating systems to monitor that delivery, and
- developing lessons to improve pupils’ personal development and understanding of British values.
Ian Wiggins, chair of trustees at Southbank Multi Academy Trust said:
As a trust we are working closely with Woodthorpe Primary School to support them, and the school have already responded really throughly to the report’s recommendations.
While there are some areas of focus in the coming months, as a trust we’re proud of Woodthorpe and the brilliant staff team there.
It’s because of their really hard work that the report rightly notes that that pupils love coming to school, that there are warm and caring relationships between staff and pupils.
You can read the full report here: