Waterfield Primary School

Waterfield Primary School is a welcoming and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, valued and ready to learn. The school has established a strong culture of inclusion, with pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils receiving effective support that enables them to achieve well. Pupils behave respectfully, benefit from a rich personal development programme, and achieve broadly in line with national averages at the end of Year 6. Safeguarding standards are met.

Strengths

• Strong, deeply embedded culture of inclusion with early identification of pupil needs
• Pupils with SEND receive consistently effective provision and achieve well
• Well-organised curriculum supported by the trust, with recent improvements in science, art and design technology
• Secure reading skills developed from Reception, with pupils typically achieving well in the Year 1 phonics check
• Calm, nurturing environment where pupils behave respectfully and bullying is rare
• Rich personal development programme with broad enrichment opportunities for all pupils
• Effective leadership and governance with strong trust support and constructive challenge
• Prioritisation of staff wellbeing with meaningful professional development

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance and punctuality are below national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not identified the most important knowledge pupils need to know with enough precision

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 Waterfield Primary School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.9% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Waterfield Primary School 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 Waterfield Primary School had 17.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.1% 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, 21.5% of pupils at Waterfield Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Waterfield Primary School received £6,863 and spent £6,664 for each of its 395 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £96,000 (£244 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of The Collegiate Trust, income was £7,153 and spending £6,800 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 Crawley · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

Waterfield Primary School is part of The Collegiate Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Gossops Green Primary Crawley
• Ifield Community College Crawley
• Kenley Primary School Whyteleafe
• Woodcote High School Coulsdon
• Riddlesdown Collegiate Purley
• Courtwood Primary School Croydon
• The Quest Academy South Croydon
• Quest Primary School South Croydon

What is Waterfield Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Waterfield Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Waterfield Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Waterfield Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Waterfield Primary School have?

Waterfield Primary School has 404 pupils on roll.

What age range does Waterfield Primary School cover?

Waterfield Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Waterfield Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Waterfield Primary School?

Waterfield Primary School is at Waterfield Gardens, Bewbush, Waterfield Primary School, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 8RA.