Willows Primary School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Primary
PUPILS
367
AGES
3 - 11
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Community school
SCHOOL GUIDE RATING
unlock
UNLOCK

Can I Get My Child Into This School?

Enter a postcode to see where you live on the map
heatmap example
Sample Map Only
Very Likely
Likely
Less Likely

This pupil heat map shows where pupils currently attending the school live.
The concentration of pupils shows likelihood of admission based on distance criteria

Source: All attending pupils National School Census Data, ONS
0161 912 2000

This School Guide heat map has been plotted using official pupil data taken from the last School Census collected by the Department for Education. It is a visualisation of where pupils lived at the time of the annual School Census.

Our heat maps use groups of postcodes, not individual postcodes, and have naturally soft edges. All pupils are included in the mapping (i.e. children with siblings already at the school, high priority pupils and selective and/or religious admissions) but we may have removed statistical ‘outliers’ with more remote postcodes that do not reflect majority admissions.

For some schools, the heat map may be a useful indicator of the catchment area but our heat maps are not the same as catchment area maps. Catchment area maps, published by the school or local authority, are based on geographical admissions criteria and show actual cut-off distances and pre-defined catchment areas for a single admission year.

This information is provided as a guide only. The criteria in which schools use to allocate places in the event that they are oversubscribed can and do vary between schools and over time. These criteria can include distance from the school and sometimes specific catchment areas but can also include, amongst others, priority for siblings, children of a particular faith or specific feeder schools. Living in an area where children have previously attended a school does not guarantee admission to the school in future years. Always check with the school’s own admission authority for the current admission arrangements.

3 steps to help parents gather catchment information for a school:

  1. Look at our school catchment area guide for more information on heat maps. They give a useful indicator of the general areas that admit pupils to the school. This visualisation is based on all attending pupils present at the time of the annual School Census.
  2. Use the link to the Local Authority Contact (above) to find catchment area information based on a single admission year. This is very important if you are considering applying to a school.
  3. On each school page, use the link to visit the school website and find information on individual school admissions criteria. Geographical criteria are only applied after pupils have been admitted on higher priority criteria such as Looked After Children, SEN, siblings, etc.

How Does The School Perform?

Good
NATIONAL AVG. 2.09
Ofsted Inspection
(06/11/2018)
Full Report - All Reports
81%
NATIONAL AVG. 60%
% pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics



Unlock The Rest Of The Data Now
We've Helped 20 Million Parents
  • See All Official School Data
  • View Catchment Area Maps
  • Access 2024 League Tables
  • Read Real Parent Reviews
  • Unlock 2024 Star Ratings
  • Easily Choose Your #1 School
£19.95
Per month

Progress Compared With All Other Schools

UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 8% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 11% of schools in England) Average (About 59% of schools in England) Above Average (About 11% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England)
Victoria Road
Timperley
Altrincham
WA15 6PP
01619807685

School Description

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. As pupils arrive at the gates each morning, members of staff greet them warmly to ensure that they have a positive start to the day. The school building is a bright and stimulating learning environment that celebrates the work and achievements of the pupils well. You have evaluated the effectiveness of the school well. With the staff and senior leaders, you have identified areas of strengths within the school as well as areas that need to be developed further. For example, you recognise that the progress that pupils make in writing is not as strong as the progress that they make in reading and mathematics. Sometimes, leaders do not share information widely across the school when they check the quality of pupils’ work. Your new plans to develop the curriculum have led you to focus on a greater coverage of skills. It is too early to judge the effectiveness of this work. Pupils continue to do well at this school. Attendance remains a strength of the school. Children get off to a good start in the early years with the majority of them achieving a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year. By the end of key stage 1, pupils typically do better than other pupils nationally. By the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has been much higher than that of other pupils nationally for several years. Parents and carers hold the school in high regard. They were overwhelmingly positive in sharing the many strengths of the school. They appreciate that you demonstrate empathy and genuine care towards the pupils. Parents said that the behaviour of pupils is good and that pupils are safe in school. Those that I spoke to and those who responded to the Ofsted surveys were equally positive in their views. Most parents said that they would recommend this school. The behaviour of the pupils continues to be a strength of the school. Pupils are friendly, polite and keen to discuss their learning. Those that I spoke to said that behaviour is good, but sometimes they argue when playing cricket. Older pupils told me about the opportunities that they have to become leaders. For example, they can become librarians, sports captains or members of the games squad. Pupils said that bullying and name-calling are very rare. They said that they can talk to you or other members of staff if they are worried. They like that they can write out their worries and place them in the worry box in the library where an adult will find them and talk with them. Pupils said that you and the staff treat them fairly. Pupils have a sound understanding of equality, and they spoke to me with a strong awareness of mental health issues in young people. Governors are keen for this school to remain a good school that serves the pupils and their families well. They take an active role in the life of the school. For example, each governor is assigned to a specific key stage. They work alongside the staff to further develop their understanding of the strengths and areas for development within the school. Governors said that they particularly gain a lot from talking to pupils about their work. Governors have ensured that all safeguarding measures in place are effective. At the previous inspection, the inspectors asked you to speed up the rates of progress made by pupils in writing. Since then, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards by the end of key stage 2 has been consistently above the national average for several years. The progress that pupils make in writing has continued to improve each year. You have put a range of training in place for teachers and teaching assistants to further improve their subject knowledge of the writing process. For example, you have targeted your training to specifically ensure that the application of grammar, spelling and punctuation is taught effectively. The most able pupils receive effective challenge in their work. From looking at pupils’ books and talking to pupils about their work, I could see clear evidence that writing in the school is strong across the curriculum. You have ensured that pupils have a sound understanding of how to improve their writing further. Despite continued rising pupil attainment, in several year groups pupils’ progress in writing is not as strong as in reading and mathematics. Inspectors also asked you to build on the effectiveness of leadership and management. Across the school, teachers have opportunities to take on subject leadership roles. Within these roles they make regular checks on the quality of pupils’ work in their subject areas. They receive regular training from other teachers in the school who give them up-to-date information for each subject. For example, in science, the whole school embarked on a project to attain a national accreditation. As part of this process, the leader for science worked alongside 2 teachers to provide training to raise the profile of the subject within school while monitoring carefully the quality of pupils’ work. Teachers said that they find it useful to receive training from their peers because it helps them to ask any follow-on questions over time. They also work alongside subject leaders from other schools in the Trafford area. Teachers said that it is helpful for them to share examples of pupils’ work with other leaders; they said it helped them measure the progress that pupils make in this school more accurately. Safeguarding is effective. As the designated lead for safeguarding, you have ensured that all safeguarding measures in place are effective. You have maintained strong relationships with children’s social care and several national charities. You have created a strong culture that encourages children to speak out in order to stay safe. All staff members have received appropriate safeguarding and ‘Prevent’ duty training. Members of staff that I spoke to were clear in the procedures to follow to safeguard children. You, the deputy headteacher and three members of the governing body have received training in safer recruitment. You keep detailed records of your work with partner agencies. Parents that I spoke to and those that responded to the Ofsted surveys were confident that their children were safe in school. Pupils are knowledgeable about safeguarding. They are knowledgeable about the benefits and dangers of social media use. They know not to share their personal information or to chat with strangers through online computer games. Inspection findings During this inspection, I focused on three key lines of enquiry. The first of these focused on the quality of phonics provision across the school. The proportion of pupils achieving the required standard in the phonics screening check fell in 2017. This improved in 2018 but unvalidated performance data indicates that this figure will remain marginally lower than the national average. As a result of the dip in attainment in 2017, you put into place a series of further training opportunities for teachers and teaching assistants. As well as this, pupils are now organised into small teaching groups. You said that this helps you to ensure that pupils receive specific targeted teaching. Evidence from visits to classrooms to see phonics sessions, talking to pupils and viewing examples of their work indicates that the provision for phonics within the school is strong. Work in pupils’ books and on displays shows that they apply their phonics well to their written work. The second area that I looked at related to the progress that the most able boys make in writing. Published pupil performance information indicates that these boys do not make the progress that they are capable of. As part of my wider investigations into the quality of writing, I paid attention to the quality of boys’ writing across the school. From observing teaching, learning and assessment, looking in pupils’ books and talking to boys about their writing, I could see that boys are making strong progress. You have carefully tailored writing 3 opportunities to ensure that these boys remain engaged. For example, a topic relating to the Second World War and another in relation to wizards and dragons are keeping the boys and girls well engaged. A renewed focus on breaking the writing process down into manageable chunks and encouraging pupils to talk about their writing has led to pupils not being overburdened by lengthy writing tasks. School performance information for current pupils shows that boys are now making improved progress. You make regular checks on the quality of writing within year group teams. The information gathered from these and similar checking exercises in other subject areas is not shared well across the school. As a result, opportunities to have a sharper overall focus on the identified strengths and weaknesses are not acted upon quickly. The final area that I focused on during this inspection related to the curriculum that you offer to the pupils. Information on the school website is complicated and difficult to interpret. However, in discussion with you, I found that you have a clear vision for the curriculum. You said that you wanted pupils to find out what they are good at through a range of experiences. Many trips and visits enrich the curriculum. The pupils have many opportunities to engage in sporting and artistic activities. The school has had recent successes in tri-golf and football competitions. As part of your continuing curriculum development, you have moved away from focusing on six topics each year to focusing on three topics each year. You did this to ensure that pupils have sufficient opportunities to develop subject-specific skills in even more depth. Pupils said that they enjoy their topics; they said that they are always different and fun. They told me all about their work on the Egyptians and a trip to a museum, and that they had visited a Tudor mansion as part of their history work. It is too early to measure the impact of this work yet because systems are not fully in place to allow leaders to measure how pupils’ skills develop and progress over time. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: the progress that pupils make in writing improves further to be in line with the progress pupils make in reading and mathematics they sharpen the focus on whole-school monitoring activities to better share information to impact on pupils’ progress they continue to develop systems to measure how pupils’ skills develop and progress over time.

Willows Primary School Parent Reviews



unlock % Parents Recommend This School
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>87, "agree"=>11, "disagree"=>1, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>91, "agree"=>7, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>57, "agree"=>32, "disagree"=>6, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>4} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>82, "agree"=>17, "disagree"=>1, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>65, "agree"=>28, "disagree"=>4, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>4} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>54, "agree"=>37, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>4} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>77, "agree"=>22, "disagree"=>1, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>41, "agree"=>22, "disagree"=>1, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>34} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>72, "agree"=>27, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>65, "agree"=>22, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>9} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>57, "agree"=>33, "disagree"=>7, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>2} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018
Yes No {"yes"=>96, "no"=>4} UNLOCK Figures based on 82 responses up to 06-11-2018

Responses taken from Ofsted Parent View

Your rating:
Review guidelines
  • Do explain who you are and your relationship to the school e.g. ‘I am a parent…’
  • Do back up your opinion with examples or clear reasons but, remember, it’s your opinion not fact.
  • Don’t use bad or aggressive language.
  • Don't go in to detail about specific staff or pupils. Individual complaints should be directed to the school.
  • Do go to the relevant authority is you have concerns about a serious issue such as bullying, drug abuse or bad management.
Read the full review guidelines and where to find help if you have serious concerns about a school.
We respect your privacy and never share your email address with the reviewed school or any third parties. Please see our T&Cs and Privacy Policy for details of how we treat registered emails with TLC.


News, Photos and Open Days from Willows Primary School

We are waiting for this school to upload information. Represent this school?
Register your details to add open days, photos and news.

Do you represent
Willows Primary School?

Register to add photos, news and download your Certificate of Excellence 2023/24

*Official school administrator email addresses

(eg [email protected]). Details will be verified.

Questions? Email [email protected]

We're here to help your school to add information for parents.

Thank you for registering your details

A member of the School Guide team will verify your details within 2 working days and provide further detailed instructions for setting up your School Noticeboard.

For any questions please email [email protected]