Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School

Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School is a small Church of England primary school with 134 pupils, serving a mixed-age community. This full inspection found the school performing at the expected standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils are proud to attend, feel safe and well cared for, behave calmly and respectfully, and benefit from warm relationships with staff. Attendance is monitored closely, and leaders work effectively with families to improve persistent absence. The school’s strengths include a well-designed curriculum, strong early years provision, effective phonics teaching and an inclusive culture in which pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are generally well supported. Leaders and governors know the school well, have a clear vision and act to address weaknesses. Staff feel valued and supported, and personal development is well sequenced, with pupils accessing clubs, leadership roles and opportunities to discuss fairness, democracy and respect. The main areas for improvement relate to assessment and attainment. Assessment is not always used precisely enough to match tasks to pupils’ needs, and gaps in knowledge are not always identified quickly. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard by the end of key stage 2 is below national averages, and disadvantaged pupils’ combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment is below the national average with a substantial disadvantage gap. Leaders are asked to strengthen assessment practice and raise attainment further by the end of Year 6, including in published outcomes.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, cared for and confident to share worries with trusted adults.
• Behaviour is calm, respectful and orderly, with disruption rare.
• Attendance is monitored closely and persistently absent pupils are well supported to attend more often.
• The curriculum is broad, well sequenced and adapted for mixed-age classes.
• Early years provision is a priority and children get off to a confident start, especially in language, reading, writing and mathematics.
• Phonics is taught well and children read accurately with increasing fluency.
• The school has an inclusive culture where pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are generally well supported.
• Leaders and governors know the school well and act effectively to address weaknesses.
• Staff feel valued and supported, including in workload and early-career development.
• Personal development is well sequenced and pupils access clubs, leadership roles and enrichment opportunities.
• Parents value communication and are engaged in supporting learning at home.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils reaching the higher standard by the end of key stage 2 are below national averages.
• Assessment is not always used precisely enough, so learning tasks are sometimes not well matched to pupils’ needs.
• Gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not always identified precisely or quickly enough, limiting depth of understanding.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment is below the national average, with a large disadvantage gap.
• Leaders need to raise attainment further by the end of Year 6, including as reflected in published outcomes.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 2.2% of pupils at Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School had 33.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 8.3% of pupils at Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School received £7,416 and spent £7,135 for each of its 133 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £38,000 (£289 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Manchester · Oldham local authority: places and applications

What is Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School have?

Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School has 133 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School cover?

Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School?

Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School is at Ashton Road, Woodhouses, Failsworth, Manchester, M35 9WL.