Woodford Green Primary School

Woodford Green Primary School is a highly effective, nurturing and inclusive school where pupils thrive. Inspectors found every key area to be of the highest quality, with the school building successfully on its previous good judgement. Pupils feel safe, behave extremely well and achieve highly through an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum that is skilfully delivered and adapted effectively for pupils with SEND. Reading is a clear priority, and pupils who fall behind receive strong support to catch up. The school's support for language development is a notable strength, starting in Nursery and continuing through to Year 6. Pupils benefit from a rich wider programme of trips, visitors, clubs and community contributions, and they demonstrate respect for differences and fundamental British values. Staff are positive about training, workload and well-being, while parents are hugely positive about the school's academic provision, care and community feel. Leaders, governance and the trust are focused on maintaining high standards and continued improvement. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The report identifies no areas of concern or underperformance; the school is part of the Arbor Academy trust and was inspected under section 5 in June 2025.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a nurturing and inclusive school community.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well constructed and often exceeds national expectations.
• Teaching is skilfully delivered by staff with excellent subject knowledge.
• Reading is prioritised throughout the school, with effective support for pupils who fall behind.
• Pupils with SEND are identified effectively and the curriculum is thoughtfully adapted for them.
• Pupils behave extremely well and are focused, respectful and eager to contribute.
• Pupils develop rich language skills from Nursery through to Year 6.
• The school provides an exciting range of trips, visitors, clubs and enrichment experiences.
• Pupils are proud of their contributions to the school and local community.
• Staff feel supported with training, workload and well-being.
• Parents and carers are hugely positive about the school.
• Leadership, governance and trust oversight are effective and focused on improvement.
• 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 Woodford Green Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.6% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Woodford Green 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 Woodford Green Primary School had 26.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.9% 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, 9.9% of pupils at Woodford Green Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.4% 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 Woodford Green Primary School received £7,694 and spent £7,092 for each of its 219 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £79,000 (£362 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Arbor Academy Trust, income was £8,050 and spending £7,758 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 Waltham Forest · Waltham Forest local authority: places and applications

Woodford Green Primary School is part of Arbor Academy Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Selwyn Primary School London
• Davies Lane Primary School London
• Northwold Primary School London

What is Woodford Green Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodford Green Primary School is Outstanding, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Woodford Green Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodford Green Primary School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Woodford Green Primary School have?

Woodford Green Primary School has 242 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodford Green Primary School cover?

Woodford Green Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Woodford Green Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 93% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Woodford Green Primary School?

Woodford Green Primary School is at Sunset Avenue, Woodford Green, Essex, IG8 0ST.