Willow Tree Primary School

Willow Tree Primary School is a maintained primary school with 470 pupils aged 3 to 11. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and, under the arrangements for graded inspections from September 2024, no overall effectiveness grade was given. Inspectors found a focused school with high aspirations and a high-quality education, where pupils are polite, confident and exceptionally well behaved. Many pupils, including those with SEND, meet the school’s aspirations and make strong progress from typically low starting points. Reading is a clear strength: it is central to the curriculum from Nursery, children get off to a swift start in Reception, and pupils who struggle are identified and supported quickly. Personal development is thoughtfully planned, attendance has improved significantly, and pupils benefit from opportunities such as studying engineering at a nearby university and contributing to the community. Governors know the school well and staff well-being is supported. The main areas for improvement concern writing. The handwriting curriculum does not set out precisely enough the key knowledge and skills pupils need, and staff are sometimes unclear what to teach to develop fluent writing. In addition, spelling, grammar and punctuation errors are not always picked up or corrected, and some pupils have not learned correct letter formation and transcription, which limits automaticity and legibility across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, charismatic, friendly and confident.
• Behaviour is exceptional, with calm conduct and high self-management.
• Pupils have highly positive attitudes and are proud of their school.
• Many pupils build a rich body of knowledge and make strong progress from low starting points.
• Reading is central to the curriculum from Nursery onwards.
• Children make a swift start to reading in Reception and many are fluent by the end of Year 2.
• Pupils who struggle with reading are identified quickly and supported to catch up.
• Pupils with SEND are identified effectively and supported well.
• Personal development is thoughtfully planned, including safety and online safety.
• Attendance has improved significantly and is a high priority.
• Pupils can take part in a range of clubs and opportunities to develop talents and interests.
• Older pupils study engineering at a nearby university and contribute to the community.
• Governors have thorough knowledge of strengths and priorities and provide effective challenge and support.
• Staff well-being and workload are well supported.

Areas for Improvement

• The handwriting curriculum does not identify key knowledge and skills precisely enough.
• Staff are sometimes unclear about the specific handwriting content they should teach.
• Spelling, grammar and punctuation errors in written work sometimes go unchecked.
• A small number of pupils are not given enough opportunity to correct writing mistakes.
• Some pupils have not been taught correct letter formation or transcription practices.
• Lack of automaticity hinders effective and legible writing across the curriculum.

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 Willow Tree Primary School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% 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, 0.6% of pupils at Willow Tree 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 Willow Tree Primary School had 20.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.8% 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, 21.1% of pupils at Willow Tree Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.1% 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 Willow Tree Primary School received £7,258 and spent £7,580 for each of its 469 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £220,000 (£468 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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What is Willow Tree Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Willow Tree Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Willow Tree Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Willow Tree Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Willow Tree Primary School have?

Willow Tree Primary School has 469 pupils on roll.

What age range does Willow Tree Primary School cover?

Willow Tree Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Willow Tree Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Willow Tree Primary School?

Willow Tree Primary School is at 2 Greenland Street, Salford, Lancashire, M6 5TJ.