Waterhouses CofE Primary Academy

Overview

Waterhouses CofE Primary Academy has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.” The report describes a “welcoming school” where pupils “arrive happily” and benefit from “caring relationships” with staff. Leaders have realised a “clear vision for providing high-quality education,” ensuring pupils achieve well and are “well prepared for their future lives.”

Strengths

• Pupils “feel safe” and have “positive attitudes to learning,” celebrating each other’s achievements in a “harmonious and friendly” playground.
• The curriculum is “ambitious” and reflects the needs of mixed-age classes, with pupils building knowledge “gradually” and demonstrating detailed understanding.
• Reading is “at the heart of the curriculum,” with staff teaching phonics effectively so pupils become “confident, fluent readers.”
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are “swiftly identified” and receive “effective support,” allowing them to “achieve well.”
• Staff morale is high, with a “positive team spirit” and staff feeling “valued” and “well supported with their workload.”

Areas to improve

• The curriculum in some foundation subjects is not “adapted sufficiently well enough” for pupils ready for more complex activities, limiting opportunities to “deepen their learning.”
• Expectations for writing are not “consistently high enough,” leading to repeated mistakes in spelling, grammar, and handwriting that hinder pupils from becoming “fluent writers.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”