The Willows Primary School

The Willows Primary School is a larger-than-average primary in Woodhouse Park, Manchester, and is part of the Children Of Success Schools Trust. It serves a community with well-above-average levels of deprivation, free school meals and pupils with SEND or EHC plans. Safeguarding standards are met, and the inspection found a mixed overall picture: attendance and behaviour and inclusion are at the expected standard, while achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, and leadership and governance need attention. The school has notable strengths. Leaders have created a calm, welcoming and inclusive ethos, and pupils are safe and happy. Attendance and punctuality have improved, most pupils attend regularly, and behaviour is good; bullying is rare and handled well. Pupils benefit from strong emotional and mental wellbeing support, effective phonics and reading provision, and a wide range of clubs, trips and leadership roles, including good access for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders understand the school’s priorities and provide useful professional development and workload support. However, pupils’ achievement is variable and progress from early years is uneven. Pupils generally do better in reading than in writing or mathematics, and children in the early years and key stage 1 are not consistently securing the foundations they need for later learning. Teachers do not always identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge, especially in writing and mathematics. Some pupils with SEND who access the school’s internal beehive provision receive a narrower curriculum and fewer personal development experiences than their peers. Leaders and governors have not checked carefully enough that plans and training are consistently applied and having the intended impact on achievement for all pupils.

Strengths

• Leaders have created a calm, welcoming and inclusive school ethos.
• Pupils are safe and happy, and most attend school regularly and on time.
• Attendance and punctuality have improved over time, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Pupils behave well, bullying is rare, and leaders deal with incidents effectively.
• The school provides strong emotional health and mental wellbeing support for pupils.
• Phonics and reading provision are effective, and pupils enjoy reading.
• Disadvantaged pupils are well supported to access clubs, trips and leadership roles.
• Leaders understand the school’s priorities and provide effective professional development and workload support.
• Governance understands its statutory duties and carries out most of them diligently.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils’ achievement is variable, and progress from starting points in early years is uneven.
• Pupils generally achieve better in reading than in writing or mathematics.
• Children in early years and key stage 1 are not consistently securing the reading, writing and mathematics knowledge needed for later learning.
• Teachers do not consistently identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge before moving on, especially in writing and mathematics.
• Early years expectations are not consistently high enough, particularly in Reception, and children do not always build well on Nursery learning.
• Some pupils with SEND in the beehive provision do not access the same breadth of curriculum or personal development as their peers.
• Leaders do not check carefully enough that plans and professional development are consistently applied and improving achievement.
• Governance has not ensured that all pupils, including those with SEND, achieve as well as they can or receive the same personal development opportunities.

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 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.6% 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, 2.3% 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 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 26.8% 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, 24.8% of pupils at The Willows Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.9% 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 2024–25 The Willows Primary School received £8,119 and spent £7,717 for each of its 428 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £579,000 (£1,353 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Children of Success Schools Trust, income was £8,267 and spending £8,046 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

The Willows Primary School is part of Children of Success Schools Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Haveley Hey Community School Manchester

What is The Willows Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Willows Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was The Willows Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Willows Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does The Willows Primary School have?

The Willows Primary School has 407 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, 60% 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 Tayfield Road, Woodhouse Park, Manchester, M22 1BQ.