Kings Wood School and Nursery

Kings Wood School and Nursery is a vibrant, happy school where pupils feel safe and are well supported. Behaviour and personal development are strong: pupils are respectful, develop mature values, and benefit from a wide range of opportunities, especially in music. The early years provision is good, and pupils with SEND are generally well supported, including through the school’s resourced speech and language provision. Recent curriculum changes have worked well in mathematics, PE and history, and reading is prioritised with well-matched books and a well-used library. Safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. The school’s progress in addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge has been too slow in some subjects, and some pupils do not achieve as well as they should by the end of key stage 2. Reading and writing are particular concerns: phonics is not implemented consistently, some pupils’ phonics gaps are not addressed quickly enough, and the writing curriculum, especially transcription, does not prepare pupils strongly enough. Governors do not consistently and effectively challenge the school about pupils’ achievement, which has slowed improvement. Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision, but it is not yet having consistent impact in reading and writing as it has in some other subjects. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic’s impact into account.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and well supported with their mental health and well-being.
• Behaviour is managed effectively, creating a calm and purposeful environment.
• Pupils are respectful and develop mature, considerate values.
• Pupils have strong opportunities to develop talents and interests, especially in music.
• Pupils with SEND are well identified and supported, including through the speech and language resourced provision.
• Children in the early years make a positive start and develop language and independence well.
• Mathematics, PE and history are taught well, with secure knowledge building.
• Reading is prioritised, with books matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge and a well-used library.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and leaders take action to reduce workload.
• Parents are very supportive.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Governors do not consistently and effectively challenge the school about pupils’ achievement.
• Leadership vision is not yet securing consistent impact in reading and writing.
• The phonics programme is not implemented consistently well, leaving some pupils with gaps.
• Some pupils do not catch up quickly in reading, and achievement by the end of key stage 2 remains low.
• The writing curriculum does not prepare pupils strongly enough, particularly in transcription skills.
• Progress in addressing pupils’ knowledge gaps has been too slow in some subjects.
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should by the end of key stage 2.

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 Kings Wood School and Nursery attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.7% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Kings Wood School and Nursery were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Kings Wood School and Nursery had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.8% 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, 26.0% of pupils at Kings Wood School and Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 13 pupils.

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 Kings Wood School and Nursery received £7,404 and spent £7,670 for each of its 431 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £167,000 (£388 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 High Wycombe · Buckinghamshire local authority: places and applications

What is Kings Wood School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kings Wood School and Nursery is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Kings Wood School and Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

Kings Wood School and Nursery was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Kings Wood School and Nursery have?

Kings Wood School and Nursery has 446 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kings Wood School and Nursery cover?

Kings Wood School and Nursery for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Kings Wood School and Nursery's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Kings Wood School and Nursery?

Kings Wood School and Nursery is at Hollis Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP13 7UN.