The Willows Primary School

The Willows Primary School is a warm, nurturing primary school where pupils are happy, feel safe and behave well. Pupils benefit from a broad and ambitious curriculum, strong reading provision and effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school also provides a rich enrichment programme and exceptional personal development opportunities, including careers-focused experiences, visits and pupil leadership roles. Leadership, governance, staff support and safeguarding are effective, and most parents are highly positive about the school. The main area for improvement is assessment. In some subjects, the school does not consistently check how well pupils build knowledge over time, which means some pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve as well as they could. In the early years, children have limited opportunities to develop physically, and staff do not always check children’s achievement precisely enough to plan their next steps. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a maintained primary school with a specially resourced provision for pupils who are hearing impaired, and it has a new chair of the governing body since the previous inspection.

Strengths

• Warm, nurturing and inclusive school culture where pupils feel safe and cared for
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with carefully ordered knowledge from early years to Year 6
• Strong focus on reading, with consistent phonics teaching and support for pupils falling behind
• Effective identification and support for pupils with SEND
• Positive behaviour and supportive relationships across lessons and social times
• Secure attendance systems and close work with families
• Exceptional personal development provision that builds aspiration and broadens horizons
• Rich enrichment programme including sport, creativity, career workshops and trips
• Effective governance with knowledgeable governors who support continuous improvement
• Strong staff training, well-being support and positive parental engagement
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is not used consistently across all subjects to identify how well pupils build knowledge over time
• Some pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve as well as they could in some subjects because of inconsistent assessment
• Early years children have limited opportunities to develop physically
• Early years staff do not always check children’s achievement precisely enough to plan next steps

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 The Willows Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at The Willows 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 The Willows Primary School had 28.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 12.5% of pupils at The Willows Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 The Willows Primary School received £6,267 and spent £6,169 for each of its 689 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £388,000 (£563 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stoke-On-Trent · Stoke-on-Trent local authority: places and applications

What is The Willows Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Willows Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was The Willows Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Willows Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does The Willows Primary School have?

The Willows Primary School has 689 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Willows Primary School cover?

The Willows Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are The Willows Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 73% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is The Willows Primary School?

The Willows Primary School is at Greatbatch Avenue, Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 7JY.