Woodfield Infant School & Nursery

Woodfield Infant School & Nursery is a highly inclusive, welcoming school where all pupils, including children in the early years and those with SEND, achieve exceptionally well. Inspectors found provision to be outstanding across every key judgement, with particularly strong curriculum design from nursery onwards, expert phonics and early reading teaching, and skilful adaptation for pupils needing additional support. Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are exemplary, and the school’s caring, nurturing environment helps them feel valued and well prepared for their next stage of education. The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, drawing on local context and planned in collaboration with the local junior school so pupils transition confidently. Reading and writing are prioritised from the start, staff benefit from high-quality professional development, and pupils with SEND are identified and supported effectively. Pupils also benefit from a wide range of personal development opportunities, including leadership and citizenship activities, and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection; it is an infant and nursery school within the Empower Multi-Academy Trust, with a headteacher appointed in April 2024 and nursery provision opened in January 2023. No significant areas for improvement were identified in the report, and safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive and welcoming school community
• All pupils, including those with SEND and in early years, achieve exceptionally well
• Ambitious, well-designed curriculum from nursery onwards
• Local context woven into learning, including Charles Darwin heritage
• Curriculum planned with local junior school to support transition
• Exceptionally strong early communication, language and phonics provision
• Expert phonics teaching with targeted support so pupils catch up quickly
• Wide promotion of reading, including morning book swaps with families
• Staff deliver lessons exceptionally well and adapt learning skilfully
• High-quality professional development for all staff
• Pupils with SEND are identified and supported effectively
• Pupils review and recall learning well, so they remember key knowledge
• Exemplary pupil behaviour and attitudes to learning
• Pupils are resilient, engaged and proud of their achievements
• Strong focus on emotional well-being and mental health
• Wide range of personal development opportunities, including parliament week
• Effective local governing body and board of trustees
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive and staff are proud to work there
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

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 Woodfield Infant School & Nursery attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.8% 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, 0.3% of pupils at Woodfield Infant School & Nursery 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 Woodfield Infant School & Nursery had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 8.1% of pupils at Woodfield Infant School & Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 Woodfield Infant School & Nursery received £6,656 and spent £6,501 for each of its 286 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £8,000 (£27 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Empower Trust, income was £7,163 and spending £6,944 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 Shrewsbury · Shropshire local authority: places and applications

Woodfield Infant School & Nursery is part of Empower Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• St George's Junior School Shrewsbury
• Wilfred Owen Primary School Shrewsbury
• Greenacres Primary School Shrewsbury
• St Marys CofE Primary School Shrewsbury
• St Peter's CofE Primary School Shrewsbury
• Market Drayton Junior School Market Drayton
• Market Drayton Infant & Nursery School Market Drayton

What is Woodfield Infant School & Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodfield Infant School & Nursery is Outstanding, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Woodfield Infant School & Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodfield Infant School & Nursery was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Woodfield Infant School & Nursery have?

Woodfield Infant School & Nursery has 283 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodfield Infant School & Nursery cover?

Woodfield Infant School & Nursery for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Woodfield Infant School & Nursery?

Woodfield Infant School & Nursery is at Woodfield Road, Copthorne, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 8LU.