Waterfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The school is welcoming and inclusive. Pupils are friendly, hard-working and well-behaved.

The headteacher, governors and senior leaders have successfully steered the school through a period of rapid change since the previous inspection. Leaders have secured substantial improvements in the quality of teaching, assessment and in pupils' outcomes. Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are much higher than at the time of the previous inspection.

Pupils' progress continues to accelerate in all year groups and in a range of subjects, as improvements in teaching become increasingly established. Improvements in phonics teaching mean that... pupils are better equipped with early reading skills than previously by the end of Year 2. Children learn well during the early years.

They are happy, settled and safe. Governors make a valuable contribution to the school's development. They provide good levels of challenge for senior leaders and effectively hold them to account for pupils' learning.

The teaching of writing is less effective than the teaching of reading and mathematics. Teachers do not always take sufficient account of pupils' starting points to plan learning. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should in writing, particularly boys and disadvantaged pupils.

Writing activities in the early years outdoor areas are not of the same good quality as those in the classrooms and so do not contribute sufficiently to the development of children's writing skills. Some pupils, including some disadvantaged pupils, do not attend regularly enough to achieve their full potential. Some middle leaders do not play an effective enough part in the school's development.

Information about this school

The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. The school is larger than the average primary school. The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is higher than that found in most schools.

The proportions of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are in line with the national averages. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is above the national average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language. The school provides part-time early years provision in the Nursery class and full-time early years provision in the two Reception classes.

The school runs a breakfast club on-site which was visited during this inspection. About half of the teachers have joined the school since the previous inspection. The current early years leader was appointed in September 2015.

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