Watermoor Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Watermoor Church of England Primary School Kingshill Lane, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1SY

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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The headteacher of this school is Lois Smith. This school is part of Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Canon Rachel Howie, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Craig Huxley-Jones. 20 and 21 May 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like attending this school. They value the opportunities to lead such as becoming house captains, ‘play leaders’ and librarians. They are proud that the current Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Cirencester Junior Town Council are pupils at the school. These opportunities teach them about democracy and being part of an organisation.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand and live out the school’s vision of ‘flourishing’. They show care and consideration towards one another. Pupils keenly take part in a range of activities that help them grow, for example playing the piano on the playground to celebrate music.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has raised its expectations of pupils both academically and in their conduct. It expects pupils to achieve well. Pupils enjoy their learning and learn well from the moment they join the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour at the school is calm. Leaders have high expectations of how pupils should behave, and pupils live up to these. Conduct around the school and in lessons is good; pupils concentrate hard and do their best. Bullying occurs very rarely. Pupils know that if they have concerns, they are confident staff will promptly respond. Pupils, parents and staff say that behaviour is good.

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

The school and the trust have made significant improvements in all areas of the school. The curriculum has been completely redesigned. The school has made clear what pupils will learn and when in each subject. It has identified the key vocabulary that pupils need to know. Teachers present this information clearly and systematically.

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

The new curriculum is ambitious and has the breadth of the national curriculum. Teachers say that it is clear and helps them to teach well. In mathematics, pupils value the consistent approach and how the learning is structured. In history and art, pupils learn new knowledge and produce extended pieces of work. Some pupils have previously had gaps in their learning. The school has worked effectively to fill these.

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

In subjects such as phonics, mathematics and art, teachers regularly check for how well pupils have understood the learning. This means they can tackle any misconceptions straight away. This works well. However, in some subjects, sometimes staff do not check what pupils know as effectively as they could. When this happens, it affects how well some pupils achieve.

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

The teaching of reading starts from the moment the pupils join the school, whether in the Nursery or Reception. Pupils learn to read through a structured phonics programme. There are frequent checks on what sounds each pupil knows. This enables staff to support pupil’s learning so that they keep up. Pupils read books that are matched to the sounds that they know. Staff know how to teach the programme due to the training that they have received. The school works hard to help children become fluent readers and to foster a love of reading. Pupils enjoy being read to daily. 20 and 21 May 2025

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Staff identify children who need extra support swiftly. The school works with parents and other agencies to plan effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff support pupils so that they can learn and achieve well. The school reviews the support plans regularly to ensure that these continue to be effective for each child.

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The improved curriculum has enabled younger pupils to achieve well. However, this improvement was not quick enough to enable previous cohorts to catch up. As a result, 2024 published outcomes were low. Pupils progress well through the curriculum. They produce work of a high standard.

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Pupils behave well. They understand the renewed expectations of the school. Staff ably support pupils who struggle to behave well or follow the rules. This helps pupils to learn from their mistakes. Rewards for positive behaviour motivate pupils to behave calmly and focus in lessons.

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Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. For example, they learn about ‘tolerance’, ‘compassion’ and ‘respect’ through the school’s values and in assemblies. They also have many opportunities to learn about democracy. The school teaches about moral issues through the personal, social and health education curriculum.

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Staff are proud to be part of the school. They recognise the impact of their work on achieving better outcomes for children. Staff feel valued by the school because it cares about their well-being and workload. Close support from the trust has helped the school continue to improve. Trustees and governors oversee the progress of the school effectively.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, teachers do not use assessment effectively enough to check what pupils have learned and to address any gaps in understanding. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge that prevent them from developing a secure understanding in these subjects. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment consistently well across all subjects so pupils learn well across the curriculum. 20 and 21 May 2025

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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.

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Further information

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). 20 and 21 May 2025

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School details

Website www.watermoorprimary-dgat.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Watermoor Church of England Primary School joined the Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust on 1 July 2022. When its predecessor school, Watermoor Church of England Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged as inadequate overall.  This school is a Church of England school. The last section 48 inspection of the school took place in November 2023.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 20 and 21 May 2025

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  The inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning, listened to pupils read and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also spoke to leaders about history. They looked at pupils’ books and spoke with some pupils about their learning.  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

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors met the headteacher and the deputy CEO of the trust as well as other school and trust leaders.  Inspectors met with representatives of the trustees and the local governing body.  Throughout the inspection, the inspectors met with groups of staff and considered the responses to the staff survey.  The inspectors considered the views of parents expressed through Ofsted Parent View and met parents at the end of the school day.

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Inspection team

Tom Morrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Fox Ofsted Inspector 20 and 21 May 2025

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