Woodhey High School Review 2026: Strong behaviour, improving outcomes, and a structured approach to learning

A school that has been on a clear improvement trajectory, with culture change now visible in day-to-day routines and expectations. The most recent inspection judgements are strongest in behaviour and personal development, supported by a curriculum that is planned in clear steps and taught by staff with secure subject knowledge.

This is a mixed 11–16 state secondary in Ramsbottom, with no sixth form, so students move on to college or training providers at 16. The current headteacher is Dean Watson, appointed in September 2022, and the school is part of Shaw Education Trust.

For many families, the key question is fit. If you want calm corridors, clear routines, and a personal development programme that is treated as core rather than optional, this is an increasingly compelling local option.

Purposeful standards set the tone. Lessons and movement between classrooms are framed by a consistent expectation of respectful conduct, with students generally responding well to clear adult direction and predictable routines. This matters for families weighing up not only attainment, but also whether their child will feel safe, settled, and able to focus.

The school’s internal language centres on two values, respect and excellence, which show up repeatedly in behaviour expectations and in how students are encouraged to represent the community. In practice, that tends to translate into smart uniform compliance, calm transitions, and a culture where students know what is expected in classrooms.

Leadership stability is still relatively recent. Dean Watson’s appointment in September 2022 is a relevant context point because it aligns with the period in which the school describes a reset of standards and routines, and it sits behind the improvement story reflected in the latest inspection grades.

Families with children who benefit from structure will often find this style reassuring. Those who prefer looser autonomy earlier in secondary may want to probe how the behaviour system feels in practice, particularly for students who test boundaries.

At GCSE level, the school’s attainment profile sits within the middle-performing group of schools in England, based on FindMySchool’s ranking derived from official data. Ranked 1,520th in England and 3rd in Bury for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking), performance is consistent with a school that is competitive locally while still having clear headroom to climb further.

In headline measures, the Attainment 8 score is 49.2, and Progress 8 is 0.05, which indicates that students, on average, make slightly above-average progress from their starting points. EBacc average point score is 4.46, compared with an England average of 4.08, suggesting relatively stronger performance across the EBacc entry profile than many families might assume from the school’s overall historic label.

For parents comparing options, the most useful way to read these numbers is through direction of travel. The ranking places the school broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile), while progress is marginally positive, which is often what you want to see during a sustained improvement phase. Parents can use the FindMySchool Local Hub comparison tool to benchmark these measures side-by-side with nearby alternatives.

Teaching is organised around a curriculum sequence that builds knowledge in clearly ordered steps, helping students secure foundations before moving on to harder concepts. This structure can be particularly helpful for students who need clarity and repetition to build confidence, especially in key stage 3 where habits are formed quickly.

Staff subject knowledge is typically a strength, and explanations are generally clear. Where the school is still tightening practice is in consistency of assessment and follow-up, because in a smaller number of subjects gaps are not identified quickly enough, which can mean some students do not get enough well-targeted practice to apply new learning securely.

Reading support is more established than many families expect at secondary. There is a structured approach to identifying students who find reading difficult, backed by trained staff delivering help that improves fluency and confidence. For parents of students arriving with weaker literacy, that is a practical reassurance.

Where Students Go Next

With no sixth form, post-16 planning matters from Year 9 onwards. The personal development and careers programme is positioned as a central pillar, not a bolt-on, with students exposed to careers events and employer encounters that help them understand routes into apprenticeships, training, and college study.

A useful indicator of the school’s approach is how it frames “next steps” as a set of informed choices, rather than a single academic track. For many students, that will mean local sixth-form colleges or vocational pathways; for others it may mean continuing academic study elsewhere with a clearer sense of subject strengths, entry requirements, and what different options lead to.

If your child thrives with continuity, it is worth discussing how the school supports the handover at 16, including guidance for application timelines, interview preparation where needed, and how references are managed. The careers lead is identified on the school’s careers information page, which signals accountability and a named point of contact for the programme.

Admission for Year 7 is coordinated by Bury Local Authority, with allocations following the published oversubscription criteria. The school’s published admission number is 210 per year group, and distance is used where categories are oversubscribed, measured by the local authority’s mapping system from home address point to school address point.

Key dates for September 2026 entry are clearly set out in local authority guidance. Applications opened on 1 September 2025 and the deadline was 31 October 2025. Allocation communications are issued on 2 March 2026, and the appeal deadline is 31 March 2026, with hearings typically held May to July 2026.

The school also provides a detailed transition programme which is unusually explicit about timing. It lists open mornings for Year 6 parents and carers on 22 and 23 September 2025, with multiple time slots, and it notes a Year 5 open evening in summer term on Thursday 2 July 2026 from 5pm to 8pm. It also states there is no open evening for Year 6.

Parents assessing chance of entry should use the FindMySchoolMap Search tool to understand how their home distance compares with the pattern of local allocations, and to model realistic alternatives in case the outcome does not go your way.

Pastoral confidence tends to come from two things, relational trust and predictable response when things go wrong. The school’s emphasis on strong staff-student relationships and a calm culture supports the first of those, and the behaviour profile indicates that expectations are generally understood and followed.

Personal development is treated with weight. Recent learning and form-time content includes topics such as financial literacy, gender equality, and violence, presented in ways intended to make discussion feel safe and structured for students who want to ask difficult questions.

Provision for students with additional needs is a significant part of the school’s offer. The school has an on-site resourced provision for students with an Education, Health and Care Plan for autistic spectrum conditions, with capacity for up to 15 students, and those students are described as integrated into wider school life.

The improvement focus here is consistency of classroom strategies for students with SEND, because staff guidance is not always specific enough, which can mean support quality varies between subjects. Families should explore how individual plans are communicated to teaching staff, and how adjustments are monitored in practice.

The latest Ofsted report judged safeguarding arrangements to be effective.

Extracurricular breadth is framed through a “pledge” approach, intended to encourage participation beyond lessons and link enrichment to wider development, leadership, and community contribution. This is reinforced by leadership roles for students, including structured opportunities that sit alongside the main timetable.

Where this becomes tangible is in named programmes and activities that are not just generic clubs. Duke of Edinburgh is one example, with the Bronze award promoted explicitly for Year 9, and expedition activity evidenced through school updates. In June 2023, the school reported 66 Bronze and 40 Silver participants completing qualifying expeditions, which is a meaningful scale for an 11–16 school.

Music is another distinctive strand, supported by the school’s Music Mark recognition and by the way the department describes its enrichment offer. The school references extracurricular options “from karaoke to ukuleles”, alongside links to Bury Music Service for additional lessons.

The programme is also connected to external partners and live experiences. A recent example is a full-day BBC Philharmonic visit with performances and workshops, which signals a willingness to bring high-quality cultural experiences into the school day rather than relying solely on optional after-school activities.

For families weighing overall fit, the implication is simple: students who engage with enrichment, leadership and structured opportunities are likely to get more from the school than those who want a purely lessons-only experience.

The school day begins at 08:30, with breakfast club running from 08:00 to 08:30. Teaching time runs through five periods and finishes at 15:00.

Because this is an 11–16 school, wraparound care is not usually the primary question it is for primary families, but breakfast provision can still be important for working households. For after-school arrangements, clubs and enrichment activities are available, and timings vary by term, so families should check the current schedule before relying on a specific day for childcare planning.

• No sixth form. Students will need to move to another provider at 16. For many, that is positive, it widens options. For others, it can feel like a disruption, so it is worth asking how post-16 guidance is delivered from Year 9 onwards.

• SEND classroom consistency is still tightening. The resourced provision for autistic spectrum conditions is a clear strength, but staff guidance for wider SEND strategies is not always specific enough, which can lead to uneven support between subjects. Families of students with SEND should probe how adjustments are tracked and reviewed across departments.

• Assessment practice varies in a small number of subjects. The curriculum sequence is well planned, but the school is still improving how consistently teachers identify and close gaps in learning through assessment and follow-up. This matters most for students who need rapid intervention to keep pace.

• Open events are structured differently to many local schools. The transition information explicitly notes no Year 6 open evening, and instead lists open mornings for Year 6 families and a Year 5 open evening on 2 July 2026. Families who expect a traditional autumn open evening should plan around this format.

This is a school with clear strengths in behaviour, personal development, and a structured approach to teaching, supported by leadership stability that is recent enough to matter. Outcomes sit around the England middle band on rankings, with slightly positive progress suggesting steady improvement rather than stagnation.

Who it suits: families who value calm routines, clear expectations, and a school that treats personal development and careers guidance as a serious part of the offer. The best fit is a student who responds well to structure and will take up enrichment and leadership opportunities, especially given the move to a different provider at 16.