a school not in a category of concern of Woodstock Primary Academy

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Louise Stapleford Principal Woodstock Primary Academy Hattern Avenue Leicester Leicestershire LE4 2GZ

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Primary Academy

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 31 October 2024, on behalf of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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Primary Academy

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school's key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school's progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school's previous graded inspection.

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Primary Academy

During the inspection, I discussed with you, other senior leaders and trust executives the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also conducted lesson visits, spoke to curriculum leaders, spoke to teachers and pupils. I scrutinised your improvement plans. I looked at pupils’ work and visited the early years foundation stage provision. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

The school should take further action to:  ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to deliver the ambitious writing curriculum effectively and consistently, so to improve pupils’ spelling, punctuation, grammar and writing skills.

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Main findings

There have been some staffing changes since the last inspection. You have appointed a new curriculum leader for English. You have also appointed a new leader for the early years foundation stage (EYFS).

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Main findings

The curriculum for English and writing is no longer disjointed. The English curriculum sets out the essential knowledge and skills that pupils need to know and develop to become better and more accurate writers. Staff are better at applying new handwriting and spelling policies to improve pupils' writing.

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Main findings

Teachers' subject knowledge and teaching approaches are becoming more effective. This is a result of the training that is being provided both by school leaders and the trust. This work needs to continue to ensure that teaching methods are consistently effective particularly in writing lessons. The ongoing improvements in the curriculum are also reflected in the improvements in the school's most recent outcomes.

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Main findings

You have maintained your focus on ensuring that pupils become better readers. It is evident that the school promotes reading to all pupils and that pupils develop a love for reading. Pupils in key stage 1 are now attaining outcomes in line with national expectations for reading.

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Main findings

The school has carefully embedded opportunities into the curriculum so that teachers know how to check pupils are learning. Teachers understand and use these opportunities purposefully. Leaders have ensured that through effective professional development, teachers know the different methods they can deploy to check that pupils are learning the curriculum. The curriculum structure ensures that there is time allocated to address pupils’ knowledge gaps and misconceptions that teachers identify.

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Main findings

All staff are aware of pupils’ additional needs. They use this information to adapt teaching and use appropriate resources to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to achieve well. This work is a direct result of effective collaboration, action planning and support between the school and the trust.

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Main findings

The EYFS provision promotes children’s communication and language. The curriculum sharply focuses on vocabulary and early communication. Adults in the EYFS use the curriculum to initiate opportunities for children to develop their language through play. Adults understand how to model their language and develop children’s language through high-quality interactions.

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Main findings

The actions leaders have taken have been highly effective in bringing about needed improvements. The trust has deployed trust executives to support and challenge senior leaders effectively. Leadership capacity across this school is developing, with more curriculum leaders showing the necessary knowledge and skills to evaluate the impact of actions more accurately. Leaders have managed the ongoing necessary change without compromising staff’s well-being.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the CEO of the Learning without Limits Academy Trust, the Department for Education's regional director and the director of children's services for Leicester. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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