The Waterloo School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: The Waterloo School Warfield Avenue, Waterlooville, Hampshire PO7 7JJ

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Outcome

The Waterloo School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are exuberantly proud of their school. Adults get to know pupils well. Everyone is valued as a unique individual. This creates a culture of belonging and acceptance, where pupils are safe and well cared for. Pupils understand what is expected of them. Routines and expectations for learning are very clear. Pupils follow their class rules and behave well. This means that they learn and achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has an emphasis on being mentally and physically fit and healthy. The ‘must do, can do, move it’ approach means that pupils benefit from frequent opportunities to be active outside. They particularly enjoy the outdoor play equipment. Pupils learn to label their emotions and develop a personal toolkit of strategies that help them to regulate their behaviour. Staff carefully manage any occasions where a pupil becomes dysregulated so that they quickly return to learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

As part of the wider curriculum offer, younger pupils participate in adventurous outdoor activities and learn to work safely with tools. The highlight of many pupils’ week is trampolining or swimming sessions. Older pupils have the opportunity to achieve a recognised sailing qualification through sailing sessions. These activities help pupils to develop their confidence and resilience and become responsible young citizens.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

At the heart of the curriculum is the school’s meticulously designed ‘personal development learning’ curriculum. Pupils are set personalised targets that address their social, emotional and mental health needs well. These align closely to pupils’ education, health and care plan outcomes. These targets are referred to frequently so that pupils are very clear about their progress towards them. Pupils’ personal achievements are celebrated 18 and 19 March 2025

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through a well-organised system of credits. Pupils take pride in their efforts to achieve these.

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Pupils also follow a broad academic curriculum that has been carefully designed to meet their needs. Staff have a clear overview of what to teach and when to teach it. Learning activities often include real life scenarios or engaging resources. This helps to make learning meaningful for pupils. When pupils join the school, a highly effective induction programme helps staff to identify any gaps in learning that pupils may have. On occasion, pupils’ individual academic targets are not well defined. This means that, sometimes, learning moves on too quickly, and pupils lack opportunities to practise and consolidate the foundational knowledge and skills they need before they move on.

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The school has implemented a phonics programme to help pupils develop their knowledge of letters and the sounds they make. Staff adapt learning carefully to help pupils to make progress towards becoming fluent and confident readers. Pupils enjoy visiting the library, whether in school or in the local community, to choose books. Pupils enjoy reading together often. This also helps to inspire them in their writing.

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The school is creative in supporting pupils and their families to overcome any barriers to attendance they face. This means that most pupils improve their attendance over time. Many pupils travel a long distance to get to school, so the warm welcome they receive makes a positive difference to their arrival each morning.

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The learning environment is well organised. Pupils make great use of outdoor areas and sensory spaces to be physically active and regulate as needed. This helps to ensure that behaviour around the school is generally calm. Pupils are respectful and kind to each other. They are taught about online safety and how to be safe in the local area. Visitors to the school, such as the local emergency services, help to forge positive community relationships. Breaktimes are joyous occasions with many games and activities to choose from. Pupils spoke with enthusiasm about trips to the pantomime and Winchester cathedral. The school develops pupils’ interests through opportunities such as ‘girls club’, art therapy and music activities.

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Governors and leaders collaborate effectively to prioritise improvements and make a positive difference to pupils. Initiatives such as ‘well-being Wednesday’ and carefully planned staff meeting times help to support a healthy workload for the staff team.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 18 and 19 March 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils’ individual academic targets are not defined clearly enough. This means that staff are sometimes not clear about what pupils should learn next and what support is needed to consolidate their learning before they move on. The school should ensure that all staff are clear about how to support pupils to develop and build on the foundational knowledge and skills they need for future learning across the curriculum.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in May 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 18 and 19 March 2025

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In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 18 and 19 March 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 5 and 6 November 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school caters for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  The school uses one registered and five unregistered alternative provisions.  The school is commissioned by the local authority to provide an outreach service to local mainstream schools.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, other leaders and staff.  The lead inspector met with the chair of the governing body. 18 and 19 March 2025

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 Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspectors also reviewed a range of documents and spoke to some staff about the curriculum, attendance, safeguarding, personal development and behaviour.  The inspectors gathered the views of parents, pupils and staff through discussions and responses to Ofsted’s online surveys and spoke to a range of pupils throughout the inspection.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Jo Petch, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Dave Euridge Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 March 2025

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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