School Chooser

Waterthorpe Infant School

Primary · ages 3-7MixedCouncil123 pupilsNursery Free breakfast clubSheffield
School Chooser Score
7
Well below
similar schools
Likely range 3 to 17
Out of 100. Better than 10% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
#14,914 of 16,041 in England#109 in SheffieldHow it is worked out
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, June 2024
Attendance90.7%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families27%About the same as most schools in England
Places57 spare123 pupils, 180 places
Pupils per teacher14.8School workforce census
Pupils on roll123Census January 2026

Waterthorpe Infant School is a council school in Sheffield for boys and girls aged 3 to 7. It has 123 pupils and room for 180. About 27 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 7 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 10% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.

Thorpe Drive, Waterthorpe, Waterthorpe Ni School, Sheffield, S20 7JU0114 248 4943waterthorpeinfantschool.co.ukMrs Michelle Clayton -Appleby headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 25 June 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

No published results yet for this school.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Plenty of spare places114 pupils for 180 places, 2024/25
63% full

66 places were empty (37% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 8% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Sheffield council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll123Census January 2026
Places18068% full
Pupils from low-income families31%27% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English9%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support22%27 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan7%9 pupils with a plan
Average class size22.84 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)26%£37,200 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls68 / 55
White British pupils81%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (32), Autistic spectrum disorder (1), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Other difficulty or disability (1), emotional and mental health (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll123148154166157175
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals31%34%33%32%32%30%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language9%7%5%4%3%4%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support–20%18%19%13%14%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans–7%7%5%1%1%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance90.7%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school28.1%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils45.32024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission3.2%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence9.3%7.2%6.5%8.3%5.1%5.0%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence6.0%4.4%3.9%5.5%3.3%3.3%–
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence3.2%2.8%2.6%2.8%1.8%1.7%–
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence28.1%28.4%20.6%30.0%15.8%11.2%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate45.316.26.03.20.0––
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000––

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers7.5full-time equivalent, 9 people
Pupils per teacher14.8Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants8.0full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£48,297
Teachers who left in the year0%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher2.12024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£9,217England £7,738. Total £1.3m
Income per pupil£9,499England £7,697. Total £1.3m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,908England £3,480
Money in reserve9%A healthy amount put by: £111k, £808 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£39kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£9,217spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m30312 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate133 per 1,000 people47% higher than the England average
Nearest bus stop120 mThorpe Green/Thorpe Drive, 13 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Emmanuel Anglican/Methodist Junior SchoolAcademy30 m159Good 202324Compare
Shortbrook Primary SchoolCouncil780 m131Good 202338Compare
Halfway Nursery Infant SchoolCouncil0.7 miles197Good 202446Compare
Rainbow Forge Primary AcademyAcademy0.8 miles347Good 20237Compare
Reignhead Primary SchoolCouncil0.8 miles223Good 20207Compare
Halfway Junior SchoolCouncil0.9 miles200Report card 202641Compare
Beighton Nursery Infant SchoolCouncil0.9 miles251Good 202431Compare
Brook House JuniorAcademy1.0 miles325Good 202222Compare
Primary schools in SheffieldBest primary schools in England

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Waterthorpe Infant School with the 50 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats10%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the bottom quarter of its group. Its score of 7 is 26 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 0 · middle 33 · highest 95100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 50 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Waterthorpe Infant School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Blackburn Primary SchoolCouncil7.0 miles143Good 202225Compare
Huthwaite All Saints Church of England Infant and Nursery SchoolAcademy14.7 miles109Report card 202646Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 7 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 7% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 3 to 17. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years0%no data
–
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.03
Ofsted grade, 2.2 years old
Progress pupils make0%no data
–
Direction of travel over five years10%well below
-0.37
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%well below
-0.47
2024/25; 89 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils0%no data
–
What parents say0%no data
–

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Waterthorpe Infant School a good school?

The figures are weak. Waterthorpe Infant School scores 7 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 10% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 3 to 17, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Waterthorpe Infant School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Waterthorpe Infant School good at its last full inspection on 25 June 2024.

How many pupils does Waterthorpe Infant School have?

123 pupils aged 3 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 180 places, so it is 68% full.

Is Waterthorpe Infant School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 66 places were empty in 2024/25 (37% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Waterthorpe Infant School?

Pupils were in school 90.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 28% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Waterthorpe Infant School?

The average class had 22.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

Does Waterthorpe Infant School have a breakfast club?

Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Thorpe Drive, Waterthorpe, Waterthorpe Ni School, Sheffield, S20 7JU
Telephone
0114 248 4943
Website
www.waterthorpeinfantschool.co.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Michelle Clayton -Appleby
Free breakfast club
Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-7, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Sheffield
Ward
Mosborough
Constituency
Sheffield South East
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
107064 · LAESTAB 3732319 · UKPRN 10070904
Official recordOfsted reportsGovernment performance tablesDownload this school's data (CSV)

Where these figures come from