Woodlands School

Overview

Woodlands School continues to be a good school, where pupils enjoy their time and feel safe due to staff’s effective response to their additional needs. The school has raised aspirations for achievement and broadened the curriculum, helping pupils make progress from their starting points. Inspectors found that staff use sensory strategies and communication tools well to support pupils’ emotional regulation and engagement.

Strengths

• Staff know and respond to pupils’ additional needs well, helping them feel "safe" and "heard and understood".
• The curriculum has been refined with clear pathways designed to help pupils become "increasingly independent and ready for adulthood".
• Pupils benefit from a "vast range of visits and trips" and a "strong extra-curricular offer" that builds confidence and social skills.
• Attendance rates are high, supported by staff who understand behaviour triggers and work closely with families.
• Governors are committed to meeting pupils’ needs and consider staff workload and well-being when making changes.

Areas to improve

• In some curriculum areas, the school has not identified the knowledge pupils need to learn clearly enough, limiting how well knowledge builds.
• Some staff lack sufficient skill to adapt the reading curriculum for pupils not yet ready for phonics, meaning learning activities are not always as focused as they could be.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.