Lime Academy Watergall

Lime Academy Watergall is currently rated as requiring improvement overall. While the school demonstrates a strong commitment to the education of its pupils, particularly in the early years where children start well, the quality of education beyond this stage is inconsistent. Issues such as significant staff turnover and varying expectations have contributed to gaps in pupil learning and engagement. Behavior management is also a concern, with inconsistencies in staff application of behavior expectations leading to disruptions in learning.

Strengths

• Strong early years provision with well-established routines.
• Good support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Effective support for pupils' social and emotional needs.
• A well-designed phonics program that helps most pupils become fluent readers.
• A wide range of extracurricular clubs and activities to develop pupils' interests.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent teaching quality leading to varying pupil learning experiences.
• Behaviour management not consistently applied by all staff.
• Errors in pupils' writing often go unchecked.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Lime Academy Watergall attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 5.1% of pupils at Lime Academy Watergall were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Lime Academy Watergall had 19.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 48.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 17.4% of pupils at Lime Academy Watergall were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Lime Academy Watergall received £8,282 and spent £9,158 for each of its 316 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £680,000 (£2,153 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Lime Trust, income was £16,022 and spending £15,651 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Peterborough · Peterborough local authority: places and applications

Lime Academy Watergall is part of Lime Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Lime Academy Abbotsmede Peterborough
• Lime Academy Parnwell Peterborough
• Lime Academy Orton Peterborough
• Lime Academy Hartwell Luton
• Lime Academy Larkswood London
• Lime Academy Hornbeam London
• Lime Academy Forest Approach Romford
• Lime Academy Ravensbourne Romford

What is Lime Academy Watergall's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lime Academy Watergall is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Lime Academy Watergall last inspected by Ofsted?

Lime Academy Watergall was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Lime Academy Watergall have?

Lime Academy Watergall has 298 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lime Academy Watergall cover?

Lime Academy Watergall for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Lime Academy Watergall's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lime Academy Watergall?

Lime Academy Watergall is at Watergall, Bretton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE3 8NX.