Woodside School

Overview

The inspection found that staff place children’s learning and wellbeing at the heart of their work, fostering "very positive, caring and nurturing relationships." The school demonstrates effective support for children with additional needs, while the nursery provides careful support to help children settle. Inspectors are confident the school has the capacity to continue improving without further visits.

Strengths

• Staff maintain "very positive, caring and nurturing relationships" by keeping learning and wellbeing needs central.
• Leaders plan support "quickly and effectively" for children requiring additional support or facing barriers to learning.
• Pupil Equity Funding is used well to "close attainment gaps" and improve outcomes through detailed knowledge of children.
• Nursery practitioners provide careful support that addresses emotional needs and helps children "settle well into nursery."

Areas to improve

• Staff should continue to raise attainment in literacy, numeracy, and health and wellbeing, and develop consistent approaches to high-quality teaching.
• Nursery staff should provide a wider range of experiences and improve the quality of questioning to deepen children’s learning.
• The nursery must ensure staff are appropriately deployed to meet care needs, improve calm mealtime experiences, and ensure play is relevant to children’s developmental stage.

Safeguarding

The report notes that nursery staff should be appropriately deployed to ensure they have the time needed to meet children’s care and learning needs, consistent with Health and Social Care Standards.