Woodford Green Primary School

Inspection of Woodford Green Primary School Sunset Avenue, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0ST

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

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The head of school is Richard Barker. This school is part of Arbor Academy 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), Maureen Okoye, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Marcia Douet. 3 and 4 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at this nurturing and inclusive school. Pupils and staff are happy and very proud to be part of the school community. Pupils are kept safe. They know that if they have any concerns, there is a member of staff they can talk to who will deal with their worries swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils. The aspirational and well-constructed curriculum is skilfully delivered across the school. Pupils are taught to be resilient and independent in their learning. As a result of this, pupils achieve highly across different subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave extremely well. They are focussed on their learning in lessons and eager to contribute their thoughts and ideas. They learn to express themselves clearly and to listen to others. Pupils show respect for differences. They understand and demonstrate important fundamental British values.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides an exciting range of trips, visitors, and experiences to enrich the pupils’ development. Pupils visit London museums, galleries, and famous landmarks. They also enjoy inter-school sports competitions and music workshops. The school invites visitors to enrich the curriculum too, including a dentist who talks to the pupils about how to look after their teeth.

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

The school prioritises learning to read throughout the school. Pupils can blend sounds to read words successfully. The school carefully matches the books they read to the sounds they know. Any pupils who fall behind get effective support to catch up. Pupils can answer questions about texts read, including their interpretations of characters’ feelings and motivations. The school fosters pupils’ love of reading in different ways, including by teachers reading to each class every day in the afternoons, author visits and reading challenges.

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

The curriculum for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), is ambitious and often exceeds what is expected nationally. Learning is sequenced logically. Teaching revisits and recaps key concepts to ensure that pupils understand and secure the essential knowledge and skills they need. As they progress through the school, pupils learn to tackle more-complex tasks. For example, in Reception, children use number squares to count in tens. By the time they reach Year 6, pupils learn the sequence with which to complete calculations with multiple operations.

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

Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and present new ideas clearly. They check pupils’ learning and address any mistakes or misconceptions that arise. The school effectively identifies any additional needs that pupils may have, including SEND. It uses this information to make thoughtful adaptations to the curriculum, including providing extra support and resources. This includes accessing specialist support from within and beyond the trust. 3 and 4 June 2025

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A strength of the school is its support for pupils to develop rich language skills. Staff guide this development from the time pupils enter the school. For example, children in Nursery learn to describe the features of the mini beasts they find in the garden. By Year 2, pupils use sentence stems to help them discuss characters in books and to highlight evidence from the text. By Year 5, pupils can confidently discuss the features of the artist Monet’s work.

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Pupils enjoy coming to school. They treat each other and staff in a friendly and respectful way. They behave in an exemplary fashion because the school’s high expectations for behaviour are clearly communicated and consistently applied. Pupils appreciate the rewards they receive which encourage good behaviour, including regularly attending school. On the rare occasions when pupils do not meet the school’s high expectations for behaviour, staff swiftly intervene to help pupils to improve.

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Pupils talk enthusiastically about the different ways their time at school is enhanced and enriched. They enjoy different clubs, such as those for photography, 3D printing and cooking. Pupils are proud of the contributions they make, both to the school and the local community. For example, pupils can become prefects and help younger pupils at playtime or be librarians and help to organise the school library. Pupils also raise money for local charities and collect food for a nearby foodbank.

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Staff enjoy working at the school. They appreciate the training and support from colleagues and across the wider trust. They know the school considers their workload and well-being when changes are made. Parents and carers are hugely positive about the school. They praise the academic achievement the school supports but also the care for pupils and the community feel. Leaders, including those from the governance and trust, are effectively focused on ensuring the school maintains its high standards and always strives to improve where it can.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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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.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 3 and 4 June 2025

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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). 3 and 4 June 2025

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School details

Local authority London Borough of Waltham Forest

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School details

Website www.woodfordgreenprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 and 20 April 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision for its pupils.  The school joined the Arbor Academy trust in 2019.

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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 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. 3 and 4 June 2025

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 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff, and pupils; considered the extent to which the school has created and open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders and subject leaders. They also held meetings with the members of the governing body, the trust, and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and geography. 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.

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 The inspectors also spoke with groups of staff and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work in other subjects.  Inspectors looked at a sample of the school’s policies and records, including those related to behaviour, attendance, and pupils’ wider development.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys completed by parents, pupils, and staff.

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Inspection team

Eleanor Ross, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Daniel Burton Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 June 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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