Woodfield Primary School

Inspection of Woodfield Primary School Gurney Road, Balby, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN4 8LA

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Inspection dates: 11 and 12 February 2025

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Kate Hallam. This school is part of The Rose Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Jeremy Harris, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Josh Greaves. 11 and 12 February 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

This school is welcoming and safe. Pupils are happy and learn well. Leaders place an emphasis on ensuring strong relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils feel valued. Most staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. At social times, pupils play well together. Behaviour in lessons is calm. There is a wide range of pupil leadership opportunities. For example, some pupils are ‘kindness ambassadors’. They make a positive contribution to the school by being role models and rewarding kind behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s curriculum is well designed. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ achievement. Pupils generally learn well. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in the life of the school. Their learning needs are usually well met. Children in the early years get off to a strong start in their education. They enjoy coming to school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a strong focus on developing pupils’ aspirations. Pupils learn about the world of work, for example through problem-solving challenges where pupils work with local railway experts. Pupils develop a strong sense of community through activities such as fundraising for local hospices, supporting the food bank and litter picking on behalf of the local council.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has an ambitious curriculum. Subject leaders have clearly identified the important knowledge and skills that pupils should learn, and in what order. Teachers use a range of strategies, such as regular quizzes, to check how well pupils remember the curriculum. Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They address pupils’ misconceptions well. Leaders have refined aspects of the curriculum to ensure that the knowledge pupils gain is consistently sophisticated. This work is still ongoing in a few subjects.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Staff are well trained to teach early reading. They check that pupils remember the sounds they are taught. Most pupils learn to read quickly. Pupils who need extra practise get the right support. Staff regularly read high-quality books to pupils. Most pupils enjoy reading.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has effective strategies to identify pupils with SEND early in their education. Pupils with SEND generally learn well. Staff usually make well-considered adaptations to lesson activities where needed. However, in some instances, the writing tasks assigned to pupils are not fully accessible to some pupils with SEND. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not develop their writing knowledge as well as they could.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The curriculum for the early years is extremely well thought through. Leaders carefully consider the needs of the children. They design purposeful and engaging activities for children. Children explore concepts from the curriculum through play. All staff know what children need to learn next. Staff skilfully develop children’s language. The school provides staff who are new to the early years team with high-quality training and guidance. This ensures that children’s learning and development needs are consistently well met. Children play and learn well together. 11 and 12 February 2025

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The curriculum for pupils’ personal, social and health education is carefully designed to meet the needs of pupils in the local community. Pupils learn about the wider world, including different faiths. Difference is celebrated. Pupils show high levels of respect for adults and each other. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and staying safe, including when online. Pupils remember some aspects of the curriculum in more depth than others.

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There is a wide range of opportunities for pupils to learn beyond the planned curriculum. For example, the school recently held a ‘Tudor theme day’ where pupils dressed up and participated in activities to help reinforce their history knowledge. Pupils regularly enjoy sporting and music events. The school also hosts a family art workshop where pupils and their parents and carers learn from a local expert.

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The trust and local governing body regularly check the school’s effectiveness. The school also carries out its own internal checks of different aspects of the school’s provision. This work is generally strong. However, occasionally, the school does not recognise when some aspects of the provision could be further improved.

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Staff feel valued because leaders support them with their workload and well-being. Staff are trained well and work collaboratively. There are regular opportunities for staff to work with colleagues from other schools in the trust. Teachers continually develop through these opportunities to share effective practice. Staff morale is high.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, the writing tasks assigned to pupils are not fully accessible to some pupils with SEND. These pupils do not develop their writing as quickly as they could. The school should ensure that all staff make effective adaptations to writing tasks, where appropriate, to meet the learning needs of pupils with SEND.  Occasionally, the school does not recognise when some aspects of its work could be further improved. This prevents the school from identifying and addressing minor areas for improvement as quickly as it could. The school should ensure that it carefully evaluates all aspects of the provision regularly.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 11 and 12 February 2025

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 11 and 12 February 2025

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School details

Website www.woodfieldprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 May 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Rose Learning Trust.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 11 and 12 February 2025

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with senior leaders, including the headteacher and the deputy and assistant headteachers. The lead inspector also met with the chair of the trust, representatives of the local governing body, the chief executive officer and the deputy chief executive officer.  Deep dives were carried out in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors discussed and reviewed the curriculum in some other subjects.  An inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.

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 Inspectors spoke to pupils about their learning and their experiences at school. An inspector also spoke to parents as they dropped their children off at the school gate.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour throughout the school day, including during breakfast club, during lesson visits and at breaktime. Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils about their views on behaviour at the school.  Inspectors reviewed the responses received through the Ofsted online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses. Inspectors also considered responses received through Ofsted’s staff and pupil questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Zoe Helman, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Shan Brough Jones Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 February 2025

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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