Woodlands Primary Academy

Woodlands Primary Academy continues to demonstrate strong performance as a good school, providing a safe and welcoming environment where pupils feel happy and supported. The staff's dedication to nurturing each child's potential is evident, and pupils exhibit good behavior while showing enthusiasm for their learning. Families express appreciation for the care their children receive, although concerns about staff turnover have been raised. Overall, pupils are well-prepared for secondary education and engage positively with a broad curriculum tailored to their needs, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and happy in a welcoming environment.
• Staff demonstrate commitment and passion for student success.
• Effective early years provision with a strong start in reading, language, and mathematics.
• High expectations for all pupils, resulting in overall strong progress.
• Good support and adaptation in teaching for pupils with SEND.
• Pupils engage enthusiastically with a broad range of subjects.
• Promotion of tolerance and kindness among pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent use of assessment by staff leading to misconceptions in learning.
• New leaders are not yet able to fully evaluate the effectiveness of their actions.

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 Woodlands Primary Academy attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.1% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Woodlands Primary Academy 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 Woodlands Primary Academy had 25.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.7% 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, 8.7% of pupils at Woodlands Primary Academy 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 2024–25 Woodlands Primary Academy received £5,839 and spent £5,640 for each of its 449 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £323,000 (£719 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of Creative Education Trust, income was £8,557 and spending £8,500 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 Great Yarmouth · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Woodlands Primary Academy is part of Creative Education Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Lynn Grove Academy Great Yarmouth
• Wroughton Infant Academy Great Yarmouth
• Wroughton Junior Academy Great Yarmouth
• Caister Academy Great Yarmouth
• Wrenn School Wellingborough
• Weavers Academy Wellingborough
• The Milton Keynes Academy Milton Keynes
• Queen Eleanor Primary Academy Northampton
• Abbeyfield School Northampton
• Ellis Guilford School Nottingham

What is Woodlands Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodlands Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2023.

When was Woodlands Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodlands Primary Academy was last inspected in June 2023.

How many pupils does Woodlands Primary Academy have?

Woodlands Primary Academy has 458 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodlands Primary Academy cover?

Woodlands Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Woodlands Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Woodlands Primary Academy?

Woodlands Primary Academy is at Church Walk, Bradwell, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR31 8QQ.