Willow Tree Community Primary School

Willow Tree Community Primary School is a larger-than-average primary in the Northern Star Academies Trust. This was its first inspection under section 5, and under the current framework it received no overall effectiveness grade; the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision were all judged good. Inspectors found a caring, highly inclusive school where pupils are happy, behave well and achieve well across an ambitious curriculum. The school's strengths include a well-sequenced curriculum, strong teaching, effective phonics and reading provision, good support for pupils with SEND, and purposeful early years provision. Pupils benefit from a wide range of personal development opportunities, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Parents are positive, staff are proud to work there, and trustees and established governors have strong oversight. The main concern is attendance, which is too low overall and particularly for disadvantaged pupils; leaders have introduced a new attendance policy but its impact is not yet evident. Many leaders, including some governors, are new to their roles and need further training to carry out their responsibilities confidently and sustain curriculum improvement. Some newer curriculum areas are not yet fully realised.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive school that understands and meets individual pupils' needs
• Pupils are happy, enthusiastic and behave well, supported by clear routines and values
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum across subjects
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and check pupils' progress effectively
• Reading is central, with strong phonics results and quick support for pupils who fall behind
• Pupils with SEND are accurately identified, well supported and achieve well
• Early years provision is purposeful and develops children's independence well
• Wide range of extra-curricular activities and student leadership opportunities
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Trustees and established governors have strong oversight, and parents and staff are positive

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance is too low, especially for disadvantaged pupils
• Impact of the new attendance policy has yet to be seen
• Many leaders, including some local governors, are new and need more training to fulfil their roles confidently
• Some newer curriculum areas are not yet having their full impact

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 Willow Tree Community Primary School attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Willow Tree Community 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 Willow Tree Community Primary School had 22.4 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, 16.1% of pupils at Willow Tree Community Primary School 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 Willow Tree Community Primary School received £6,965 and spent £7,082 for each of its 402 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £383,000 (£954 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of Northern Star Academies Trust, income was £7,474 and spending £7,332 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 Harrogate · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

Willow Tree Community Primary School is part of Northern Star Academies Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Harrogate High School Harrogate
• Hookstone Chase Primary School Harrogate
• Starbeck Primary Academy Harrogate
• New Park Primary Academy Harrogate
• Lapage Primary School and Nursery Bradford
• Byron Primary School Bradford
• Meadow Bank Community School Bradford
• Eastwood Community School Keighley
• Parkwood Primary School Keighley
• Victoria Primary School Keighley

What is Willow Tree Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Willow Tree Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Willow Tree Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Willow Tree Community Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Willow Tree Community Primary School have?

Willow Tree Community Primary School has 423 pupils on roll.

What age range does Willow Tree Community Primary School cover?

Willow Tree Community Primary School for pupils aged 0 to 11.

What are Willow Tree Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Willow Tree Community Primary School?

Willow Tree Community Primary School is at Wetherby Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 7SG.