Water Hall Primary School

Water Hall Primary School is a friendly, welcoming school where pupils are happy, feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision are all strong. Pupils benefit from a kindness-centred culture, many leadership opportunities, a wide range of clubs and well-considered personal development. The school is at the heart of its community, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school is part of the Tove Education Trust, and leaders, governors and the trust work well together to support and challenge the school. The main concern is the quality of education. The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, and provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities has improved, but many improved curriculums are still at an early stage of implementation. Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 have gaps in knowledge across a range of subjects and do not achieve as well as they should. National test results in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6 were very low in 2023 and 2024, and the 2024 Year 1 phonics check was significantly below the national average. The school has made positive changes to phonics and writing, and more pupils are now reading fluently, but consistency and impact are not yet secure. Leaders have tackled the weaknesses from the previous inspection with urgency and commitment, and the school has the ambition and capacity to improve. However, pupils are sometimes moved on to new learning before they are fully secure with prior content, so misconceptions and gaps are not always identified and addressed quickly. Errors in spelling, punctuation and handwriting also go unchecked too often, leading to repeated mistakes. The school’s next steps focus on checking prior learning more rigorously and ensuring writing errors are consistently identified and addressed.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging.
• The school is friendly and welcoming and is centred around kindness.
• Pupils behave well and show kindness and empathy to each other.
• Pupils benefit from many leadership opportunities, including kindness ambassadors.
• Personal development provision is a strength, with well-considered opportunities outside the curriculum.
• Pupils’ talents are nurtured through a wide range of clubs, including sports, arts and crafts, and singing.
• Pupils learn strategies to support positive mental health.
• The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced from early years to Year 6.
• Provision for pupils with SEND has improved, with needs identified precisely and curriculum adapted increasingly effectively.
• The phonics programme is well organised, consistency has improved, and daily support helps pupils who need extra help.
• Positive changes have been made to the writing curriculum and implementation is becoming more consistent.
• Children in early years benefit from well-matched learning that prepares them well for Year 1.
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning, and routines are established well in early years.
• Attendance is tracked carefully, and support for families has helped improve attendance over time.
• Staff well-being and workload are carefully considered before changes are made.
• Governors and the trust work well together to support and challenge the school effectively.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• The school has the ambition and capacity to improve and has tackled previous weaknesses with urgency.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement.
• Many improved curriculums are in the early stages of implementation.
• Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 have gaps in knowledge across a range of subjects.
• Pupils do not achieve as well as they should.
• National test results in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6 were very low in 2023 and 2024.
• The 2024 Year 1 phonics check was significantly below the national average.
• Pupils are sometimes moved on to new learning before checks confirm they are secure with prior content.
• Misconceptions and gaps in learning are not always identified and addressed quickly.
• Errors in spelling, punctuation and handwriting often go unchecked, leading to repeated mistakes.
• Phonics has historically not been delivered systematically enough over time.

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 Water Hall Primary School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.4% 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, 2.4% of pupils at Water Hall Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Water Hall Primary School had 16.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 34.3% 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, 23.6% of pupils at Water Hall Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 Water Hall Primary School received £9,846 and spent £9,520 for each of its 198 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £214,000 (£1,082 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Tove Learning Trust, income was £7,790 and spending £7,801 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.

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All schools in Milton Keynes · Milton Keynes local authority: places and applications

Water Hall Primary School is part of Tove Learning Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Knowles Primary School Milton Keynes
• Lord Grey Academy Milton Keynes
• Stantonbury School Milton Keynes
• Elizabeth Woodville School Milton Keynes
• Roade Village Academy Roade
• Sponne School Towcester
• Wootton Primary School Northampton
• Whitefriars Primary School Rushden
• Rushden Academy Rushden
• Huxlow Academy Irthlingborough

What is Water Hall Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Water Hall Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Water Hall Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Water Hall Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Water Hall Primary School have?

Water Hall Primary School has 182 pupils on roll.

What age range does Water Hall Primary School cover?

Water Hall Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 27% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Water Hall Primary School?

Water Hall Primary School is at Fern Grove, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK2 3QF.