Waterman Primary School

Waterman Primary School

Address: The Boulevard, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1QF Unique reference number (URN): 141715

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Strong moral purpose shapes leadership at every level. Leaders treat the school's challenges as a privilege. For example, they prioritise rebuilding relationships with parents and carers through openness and warmth. Their daily presence on the playground helps parents feel calm and confident. Parents know they can share compliments and concerns and that leaders will act. Leaders welcome parents into school, such as inviting them to assemblies or providing access to the 'Waterman pantry' when families need non-perishable foods. Consequently, leaders' work has brought about a happy and harmonious community.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Staff feel safe because they trust leaders to act in everyone's best interests. Open communication keeps workload manageable. The trust's careful oversight gives leaders and staff access to high-quality professional learning, from curriculum packages to recognised qualifications like national professional qualifications. These serve to strengthen expertise. Leaders make sure everyone understands what is working well and what needs developing. So, staff respect the changes leaders make and do what they can to help the school to further improve.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The trust board and local advisory board provide energetic, informed oversight that strengthens the school's development. Trustees ensure statutory duties are met with real precision. For example, they commission external safeguarding reviews to assure themselves that the school's systems, policies and culture are as robust as they intend. Having those on the boards ask astute, context-driven questions helps leaders to reflect and remain focused on doing all they can to drive improvements that make a tangible difference for pupils and families.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders understand their community. So, they shape an offer that serves several purposes at once. For example, it broadens pupils’ experiences so they grow into open-minded young people who enjoy travel, try new foods and join unfamiliar games or sports to discover their passions.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Meticulous tracking assures leaders that every pupil, regardless of additional needs, accesses the full offer. They add bespoke support where needed. For example, leaders work with catering staff so pupils who love baking or cooking can shine. They personally escort pupils on trips so no pupil misses out. This blend of careful oversight and dedication to broadening pupils' experiences sets their approach apart.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils learn rich, practical content about themselves and healthy relationships. They explore how to manage big feelings, how their bodies change as they grow and what being a good friend looks like both online and face to face. They approach even tricky ideas with confidence because they trust staff to teach these to help them stay safe and feel secure.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pastoral support is calm, clear and comforting for pupils and families. A simple referral process leads to swift help, so worries stay small and pupils feel safe. Leaders celebrate a

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Expected standard

model that works. Their moral drive means they share it with other providers to help pastoral care grow beyond the trust.

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Expected standard

Pupils explore British values in ways that feel real to them. They practise democracy by voting in assemblies and deepen their understanding of the rule of law through the trust’s HEARTS values. For example, doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

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Expected standard

There are a range of roles for pupils to take on. Having to apply for the role and be selected makes each role matter. For example, digital leaders help younger pupils learn to use laptops, while eco warriors collect litter and recycle it. The embedded routines around each role ensure pupils learn the value of civic duty.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils steadily build secure knowledge as they move through the school. By the end of Year 6, they read confidently, write clearly and work with numbers accurately. Over time, pupils achieve soundly in the Year 6 statutory assessment tests. This includes disadvantaged pupils. These outcomes provide a clear marker that pupils are ready to move on and continue their educational journey at secondary school.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make meaningful, measured progress from their starting points. For example, extra phonics tuition helps them make steady gains in reading fluently. Time planned for playing board games helps them practise winning and losing with grace to develop their social confidence and self-control.

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Achievement Expected standard

Across the curriculum, pupils enjoy sharing what they know. Leaders recognise instances where pupils’ recall can be surface-level. They are sharpening how staff help pupils connect, consolidate and carry forward key ideas so learning sticks and supports deeper understanding across different subjects.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Being a small school, published attendance figures can shift sharply with only a few pupils. The picture in school is one of steady gains. Pupils' attendance is a clear priority. Leaders track patterns closely. They know exactly where their work is making a difference and where there is more to do. They act quickly and kindly to help families get their children into school. For example, leaders and staff collecting pupils from home when parents and carers need a hand, show this care. Leaders use social media well to celebrate pupils' successes and to highlight upcoming events that parents will not want their children to miss.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders' work to rebuild strong relationships with parents and carers means pupils typically see positive behaviour modelled all around them. They watch adults show politeness, resolve disagreements kindly and look for the best in others, and they copy this. Adaptations for pupils with additional needs, such as short bursts of classwork with planned breaks, mostly help them behave well in lessons. Sometimes, pupils may need extra help to meet expectations in lessons. Staff responses vary. When staff spot concerns quickly and use agreed approaches, pupils settle well and routines stay calm.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to curriculum and teaching. For example, they bring about considered changes to the subject curriculums that include systems that aid staff's understanding of how best to teach. The trust funds resources to ensure pupils have what they need to learn, such as regularly replenishing the book stock for younger and older readers.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Starting in the early years, there is attention and belief afforded to ensuring children begin to form the foundations for later learning, such as securing number bonds to ten to help pupils with adding and subtracting confidently in Year 1. Careful deployment of staff, especially in phonics, means pupils are taught by staff with the expertise needed to build firm foundations for key learning, such as learning to read.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teaching mostly helps pupils learn through clear explanations and demonstrations, with rewards like the 'presentation award' motivating them to aim high. At times, the approaches to support pupils, in particular those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are not used consistently well, which can affect how confidently pupils complete tasks. Leaders are working to embed this securely.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff take pride in building positive relationships between home and school. Daily conversations and online updates help parents and carers see the care and ambition staff show their children. Kind staff and appropriate supervision create a safe, nurturing space where children form friendships with ease. The ambition is evident in more children reading short stories, writing simple sentences and using key number, shape and measure facts confidently. Consequently, more and more children over time are ready for Year 1.

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Early years Expected standard

The increase in children's achievement is due to leaders' evidence-informed curriculum changes. For instance, staff plan writing activities around the letter-sounds and tricky words each child already knows, rather than asking them to write words they cannot yet read. This means children typically apply secure phonics knowledge in their handwriting and spelling, building accuracy and confidence.

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Early years Expected standard

Children with additional needs receive high-quality, timely support. This includes access to the trust's speech and language therapists, ensuring children benefit from specialist input without delay.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders are in the process of strengthening the effectiveness of staff interactions with children. They want staff to routinely notice what children know, respond to what they need and extend learning so each child can achieve their very best. This focus mirrors leaders' wider commitment to more purposeful, responsive teaching.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The trust uses well-organised systems that help staff quickly spot what might hold pupils back. Staff set short, measurable targets to check fast whether extra help is working for pupils. It means they can adapt support quickly or seek leaders’ guidance when needed. Leaders are easy to reach, so staff and parents and carers can share concerns quickly. This leads to timely actions, from counselling referrals to asking a speech and language therapist to observe a pupil’s communication skills.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders recognise there is work to do to ensure strategies for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are used consistently well. Approaches such as breaking tasks into structured steps mostly help pupils stay engaged. Leaders want this fully embedded, so all pupils feel confident tackling ambitious work.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders use pupil premium funding well, from boosting achievement to widening extra- curricular access. They track support closely to see what works for pupils. They were proud to receive a government letter recognising their work to raise attainment for disadvantaged pupils.

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Inclusion Expected standard

A real strength is how leaders work with other agencies, including the local authority, to welcome pupils who have faced challenges. Even with a high proportion of pupils with additional needs, leaders and staff work hard to ensure everyone achieves and feels they belong.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils experience school as a place where they feel known, supported and able to enjoy their days. Breaktimes are calm and sociable. Pupils stay busy because there is plenty to do. This brings a sense of joy to the school day. For example, pupils build dens, play football or sit together in the shade. They mix well and include others, noticing when someone might need a friend.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils value the wide extra-curricular offer, especially for such a small school. The onsite swimming pool is a real highlight. Staff who teach swimming are enthusiastic and encouraging. Regular lessons go beyond the basic entitlement, so pupils grow in confidence and skill. They arrive at the cross-school swimming gala feeling confident and ready to compete.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Kind friendships help pupils feel secure and connected. These relationships encourage regular attendance because pupils value the bonds they build with one another and with trusted adults in school. Pupils like how leaders and staff know them and their families well. Pupils know leaders and staff will notice when they are not being themselves, as well as listen and respond when they share a worry. This trust and togetherness helps keep pupils safe.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Generally, pupils enjoy their lessons. They respond well to clear routines and practical support. For instance, older pupils value the regular practice that helps them secure their times tables and tackle more advanced mathematics, such as decimals, fractions and percentages. Younger pupils learning to read benefit from staff's simple, well-timed prompts, like covering part of a word so they can focus on the letter-sound that is causing difficulty. For the most part, these approaches are working, including for pupils with additional needs. More pupils now leave the school ready for the learning demands of secondary education.

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Next steps

Leaders should embed consistent practice where staff quickly spot early difficulty and offer timely support that helps pupils stay focused and engaged. Leaders should refine how staff help pupils make clear connections in their learning so key ideas stick and pupils develop confident understanding in all subjects.

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About this inspection

This school is part of the HEARTS Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Don Wry, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Vaughan Collier.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMI.

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About this inspection

During the inspection, inspectors spoke with the chair of the trust board; a trustee; the chair of the local advisory board; the chief executive officer; the deputy chief executive officer; the director of curriculum; the deputy director of curriculum; the executive lead for safeguarding, special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and social, emotional and mental health; two trust councillors and senior mental health leads; the head of school; the school business manager; and, representatives working on behalf of either Essex or Southend-on- Sea local authorities.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The head of school took up post in September 2025.

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About this inspection

The school currently uses no alternative provision.

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About this inspection

The school has grown since the last inspection. It used to have three mixed-age classes, with all key stage 2 pupils taught together. Now there are four mixed-age classes: Nursery and Reception, Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6.

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About this inspection

The school shares its premises directly with two separately registered early years providers: a children's centre and a sessional day care for children aged 0 to 4.

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About this inspection

The school has a very high proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium and many pupils with SEND. A large number of pupils join or leave the school at non ‑ standard times.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 14 July 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England. At the time of the inspection, there were 74 pupils on roll. The school’s capacity is 105 pupils.

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What does this mean?

Head of school: Brian Casey National average: 300

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2022/23 (final) 62% 60% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2022/23 (final) 77% 71% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 69% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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national average

2022/23 (final) 55% 44% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 64% 59% Close to average

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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gap

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 6.5% 5.9% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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