Ofsted say York primary school 'requires improvement'

Woodthorpe Primary School, on Summerfield Road, which has 442 pupils, has been told it 'requires improvement' by Ofsted, following their latest inspection on January 25-26.

Inspectors said in their report that while pupils have a good relationship with staff and they perform well in maths and English, senior staff do not have enough knowledge of the wider curriculum, and therefore, cannot support teachers in pupils' learning.

Woodthorpe Primary School 'requires improvement' according to Ofsted Picture: Frank Dwyer

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The inspection report reads that: "Where leaders’ subject knowledge is strong, the curriculum is well planned.

“Leaders have structured a curriculum in mathematics and reading that helps staff to teach pupils knowledge in a logical order. This is not the case for other subjects, such as history and computing.

“Teachers focus too much on delivering activities rather than the knowledge that they want pupils to remember.

“This means that sometimes pupils remember the excitement of the task rather than the knowledge intended - pupils sometimes find it hard to remember what they have been taught."

Ofsted says a school judged as 'requires improvement' is not yet 'good' but overall provides an acceptable standard of education.

Woodthorpe primary has been an academy since converting in 2017 and is part of the wider York-based South Bank Academy Trust

Ian Wiggins, the trust chairman, 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."

Ian Wiggins, Chair of South Bank Multi AcademyTrust

In their report, inspectors say that staff had a 'warm and caring' relationship with their pupils and supported their emotional wellbeing.

Leaders plan regular opportunities, such as 'circle time', to allow pupils to express their feelings and as a result, they feel comfortable around their teachers.

At the same time, the inspectors mentioned in the report that leaders listened to parents to create their behaviour policy and this was rated 'Good' in the report.

Inspectors claimed in the report that they found a similar pattern in delvering the curriculum with the Early Years pupils.

It read: "In the early years, children do not achieve as well as they could, while there are a range of appealing activities for children to engage with, they do not develop their knowledge to prepare them for Year one."

The school was rated 'good' at its previous inspection in 2017, the highest being 'outstanding'.