Woodlands

Woodlands is a special school in the Unity multi-academy trust, catering for pupils with education, health and care plans and a broad range of complex needs. The inspection found safeguarding standards met, leadership and governance at strong standard, and all other inspected areas at expected standard. The school has undergone significant change since the last inspection, including a new headteacher in May 2025 and several senior leadership changes, and leaders have driven rapid improvement. Leaders have created a reflective, ambitious culture with strong staff support and meaningful partnerships. Pupils generally achieve well from their starting points, behaviour is a standout feature, early years provision gives children a flying start, and inclusion and pastoral support are particular strengths. Post-16 provision is well led and prepares students well for adulthood. Attendance is improving despite significant health-related barriers. Remaining priorities include sharpening communication strategies, especially some assistive technologies, using personal development data more precisely, and better sequencing interventions for early writing and other foundational knowledge. Overall, Woodlands is performing well, with strong leadership and clear plans to address these areas.

Strengths

• Leadership and governance are strong, with a compelling vision and rapid school improvement.
• Trustees and senior leaders have acted decisively and maintain detailed oversight of provision.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and feel well supported with workload, wellbeing and professional development.
• Partnerships with parents, agencies and universities are meaningful and focused on pupil outcomes.
• Pupils generally achieve well from their starting points and make steady progress.
• Early reading has been rapidly strengthened and pupils increasingly read for information and enjoyment.
• Pupils are well prepared for their next steps, including transitions and post-16 provision.
• Attendance is improving steadily despite significant health-related barriers.
• Behaviour has improved significantly and is a standout feature; classes are calm and bullying is extremely rare.
• The curriculum is carefully constructed, accessible and flexibly adapted to pupils' needs.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and typically teach well with effective communication strategies.
• Early years provision gives children a flying start through personalised, engaging learning.
• Inclusion is central, with detailed understanding of SEND and precise adaptation of provision.
• Pastoral support is a particular strength and helps pupils settle, regulate and engage.
• The personal development offer prepares pupils well for adulthood, including work experience and community involvement.
• Post-16 provision is well led, with curated study programmes, effective interventions and strong preparation for life beyond school.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
• Pupils are happy, safe, proud of their achievements and caring towards one another.

Areas for Improvement

• Communication strategies, including some assistive technologies, need more precision and consistency to be as effective as they could be.
• Personal development is not yet tailored as precisely as it could be using pupil engagement and achievement data.
• Early writing and associated interventions are at an earlier stage of improvement, with gaps in some pupils' foundational knowledge.
• Some pupils' communication is limited at times by minor inconsistencies in the precision of strategies used.

In 2024–25 pupils at Woodlands attended 89.5% of sessions (the national figure for special schools was 87.2%). 34.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 35.3%).

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 Woodlands were suspended at least once (nationally 5.1%). 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 Woodlands had 10.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for special schools was 6.6). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 51.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.5%).

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 Woodlands had 216 pupils, 100.0% of them with an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 99.5%).

It says it provides for: specific learning difficulty; moderate learning difficulty; severe learning difficulty; profound and multiple learning difficulty; social, emotional and mental health; speech, language and communication needs; hearing impairment; vision impairment; multi-sensory impairment; physical disability; autistic spectrum disorder; other difficulty or disability.

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 special school schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Woodlands received £27,182 and spent £27,654 for each of its 215 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £858,000 (£3,991 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Unity Mat, income was £27,323 and spending £29,114 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 Birmingham · Warwickshire local authority: places and applications

Woodlands is part of Unity Mat, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Welcombe Hills School Stratford-Upon-Avon
• Brooke School Rugby

What is Woodlands's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodlands is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Woodlands last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodlands was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Woodlands have?

Woodlands has 216 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodlands cover?

Woodlands for pupils aged 2 to 19.

What are Woodlands's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 0% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Woodlands?

Woodlands is at Packington Lane, Coleshill, Birmingham, West Midlands, B46 3JE.