Ofsted: Requires improvement trending_up Places Available emoji_events #10 in St. Helens public Top 36% UK

Willow Tree Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Jane Sweeney

location_onSt Helens, WA9 4LZ

language Visit Website phone 1744678730

verified

Ofsted

Requires improvement

Inspected 2022

groups

Students

219

school

Expected Standard

67%

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

0.8x

summarize

Willow Tree Primary School is a Community school primary school in St Helens, serving ages 3-11. Currently Requires Improvement according to Ofsted — the school is working to raise standards. Ranks in the top 36% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

Willow Tree Primary School is a community school in St Helens, St. Helens, admitting pupils aged 3-11. The school has approximately 219 pupils on roll.

In 2024, 67% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 7% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #10 of 54 primaries in St. Helens and #2,956 of 15,713 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2022. The school's current overall rating is Requires improvement. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Requires improvement, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Requires improvement.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 0.8× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 25.2:1. There are no current teaching vacancies. Teacher turnover in the previous year was 40.0%.

In the 2023/24 academic year, there were 4 permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 4.7 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

67%

LA 60%England 61%

Reading77% LA 73% · Eng 74%

Writing73% LA 73% · Eng 72%

Maths77% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

105

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

64%

LA 61%England 60%

Reading80% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Writing80% LA 72% · Eng 71%

Maths82% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

105

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.4

Read

LA 0.3

-1.5 to 2.3

2.0

Write

LA 0.3

0.2 to 3.8

1.7

Maths

LA 0.0

0.0 to 3.5

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

49%

LA 65%England 65%

Reading62% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Writing76% LA 79% · Eng 78%

Maths67% LA 77% · Eng 79%

Read SS

102

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

103

Progress (0 = national avg)

1.8

Read

LA 0.0

0.0 to 3.6

4.1

Write

LA 0.1

2.5 to 5.8

1.3

Maths

LA 0.1

-0.3 to 2.9

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

47%

LA 62%

Reading60% LA 73%

Writing80% LA 78%

Maths57% LA 74%

Read SS

101

Maths SS

GPS SS

105

Progress (0 = national avg)

-1.2

Read

LA -0.4

-3.5 to 1.1

2.8

Write

LA 0.0

0.6 to 5

-3

Maths

LA -0.6

-5 to -1

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

Inspection Report

31 August 2024

Inspection Report

05 July 2022

Inspection Report

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21 March 2017

Inspection Report

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07 December 2011

Inspection Report

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10 November 2009

Inspection Report

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05 November 2008

Inspection Report

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16 May 2005

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

4 Evaluations

2022-07-05

S5 Inspection EIF

Requires improvement

Education

Requires improvement

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Requires improvement

2017-03-21

None Legacy

No Judgement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

Development

Leadership

2011-12-07

S5 Inspection Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2008-11-05

None EIF

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

5.3%per term

warning Above Average

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

2.7%(5 pupils)

Summer term 2024

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

2pupils

gavel Exclusion recorded

National average: 1.063% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Summer term of 2024, this school served a headcount of 187 pupils. During this period, there were 10 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 5.3%, which is above the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg	Perm. Excl.
2023/24 (Summer term)	187	10	5.3%	0.8%	2
2023/24 (Spring term)	192	9	4.7%	0.7%	0
2023/24 (Autumn term)	190	8	4.2%	0.8%	2
2022/23 (Summer term)	216	12	5.6%	0.7%	0
2022/23 (Spring term)	219	13	5.9%	0.6%	0
2022/23 (Autumn term)	218	4	1.8%	0.6%	0
2021/22 (Summer term)	230	5	2.2%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Spring term)	229	5	2.2%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Autumn term)	231	6	2.6%	0.5%	0
2020/21 (Summer term)	248	4	1.6%	0.4%	0
2020/21 (Spring term)	253	1	0.4%	0.1%	0
2020/21 (Autumn term)	253	5	2.0%	0.4%	1
2019/20 (Summer term)	263	0	0.0%	0.0%	0
2019/20 (Spring term)	263	5	1.9%	0.4%	1
2019/20 (Autumn term)	252	11	4.4%	0.6%	0
2018/19 (Summer term)	276	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2018/19 (Spring term)	271	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2018/19 (Autumn term)	267	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2017/18 (Summer term)	277	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2017/18 (Spring term)	279	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2017/18 (Autumn term)	277	1	0.4%	0.5%	0
2016/17 (Summer term)	272	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2016/17 (Spring term)	269	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2016/17 (Autumn term)	263	0	0.0%	0.5%	0