Waterthorpe Infant School, Sheffield
Waterthorpe Infant School is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 7 in Sheffield. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in June 2024. It was 63% full in 2025.
- Ofsted
- Good (2024)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- Below England average
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 80 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Sheffield (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Waterthorpe Infant School in detail
Getting a place at Waterthorpe Infant School
For September 2026 entry, 31 families put Waterthorpe Infant School as their first choice and 48 named it as one of their preferences, for 31 places offered. That is one first choice for every place. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at Waterthorpe Infant School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Waterthorpe Infant School are Emmanuel Anglican/Methodist Junior Academy (under 0.1 miles, Good, 72% reading, 62% maths); Shortbrook Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 90% reading, 90% maths); Halfway Nursery Infant School (0.7 miles, Good); and Rainbow Forge Primary Academy (0.8 miles, Good, 61% reading, 45% maths).
Emmanuel Anglican/Methodist Junior AcademyShortbrook Primary SchoolHalfway Nursery Infant SchoolRainbow Forge Primary Academy
Who goes there
8.9% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 27 pupils (22%) received SEN support and 9 (7.3%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.
Staffing
Waterthorpe Infant School had 9 teachers in 2026, one for every 13 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.
Getting there
The nearest tram or metro stop is Waterthorpe Platform to City, about 480 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).
9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Thorpe Green/Thorpe Drive (at), 120 metres away.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Waterthorpe Infant School issued 67 suspensions, 45.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Sources: DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; DfE school workforce census; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Every family who put it first was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance did not limit places that year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's June 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
The school is genuinely inclusive and welcoming, particularly for children with additional needs who receive dedicated, personalised support. Staff build strong relationships with pupils, helping them feel safe, secure and valued. The school provides an ambitious curriculum with excellent phonics teaching and strong personal development education that helps children understand responsibility, kindness and how to stay safe.
Key Strengths
- Exceptional support for pupils with SEND both in mainstream classrooms and in specialist provision (The Rainbow Room)
- Strong relationships between staff and pupils with a distinctly nurturing and inclusive school culture
- Well-designed early reading curriculum with consistent phonics teaching across the school
- Strong behaviour management with effective routines and emotional support for pupils
- Excellent teaching of religious education with pupils remembering learning exceptionally well
Areas for Improvement
- Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough or arrive late, missing important learning
- In subjects like design and technology, teachers do not check pupils' understanding precisely enough, affecting how well learning builds on prior knowledge
- Basic errors in mathematics are not always identified and corrected quickly enough, causing pupils to repeat mistakes
- Pupils struggle to retain and remember key knowledge over time in some subjects
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with the school maintaining an open and positive culture around pupil safety.
Extracurricular Activities
Cooking club, football club, science club, school council, healthy mind champions programme
Waterthorpe Infant School is a highly inclusive school with a nurturing ethos where pupils feel safe and secure. Leaders maintain high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs, and the school offers an ambitious, well-adapted curriculum.
At a Glance
30.9%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Class Sizes
22.8
Avg class size
4
Total classes
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with Waterthorpe Infant School
Before and after school care
Waterthorpe Infant School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school. Source: Free breakfast clubs: schools on the programme, Department for Education Free breakfast clubs in Sheffield
Term dates
Waterthorpe Infant School is a community school, so its term dates are set by Sheffield. Training (INSET) days, when pupils are not in school, vary by school: check the school's own calendar.
2026 to 2027
- Autumn term: Tuesday 1 September to Friday 18 December 2026 (half term Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026)
- Spring term: Monday 4 January to Thursday 25 March 2027 (half term Monday 15 February to Friday 19 February 2027)
- Summer term: Monday 12 April to Wednesday 21 July 2027 (half term Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2027)
2027 to 2028
- Autumn term: Wednesday 1 September to Friday 17 December 2027 (half term Monday 25 October to Friday 29 October 2027)
- Spring term: Tuesday 4 January to Friday 31 March 2028 (half term Monday 14 February to Friday 18 February 2028)
- Summer term: Tuesday 18 April to Friday 21 July 2028 (half term Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June 2028)
Getting There
Tube / Metro / Tram
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Waterthorpe Infant School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Waterthorpe Infant School is in Sheffield; for families living there:
- Sheffield's school travel policy: Home to School Travel and Transport Policy September 2023
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 7
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 3
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 7 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 4 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise.
0 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Sheffield is 17 (the median across 193 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Waterthorpe Infant School
Will you get a place at Waterthorpe Infant School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Waterthorpe Infant School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Waterthorpe Infant School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Waterthorpe Infant School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Sheffield, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Waterthorpe Infant School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Sheffield got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
63%
Available places
114 pupils
180 places
66 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Sheffield
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Sheffield
Across Sheffield council
Places available
6,785
Applications
5,415
Got 1st preference
95.1%
Got preferred school
98.9%
All primary applications across Sheffield council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(5)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
27
SEN Support
9
EHC Plans
29.3%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
123
Total Pupils
68
Boys
55
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
9
Teachers
13.7:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£48,297
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,757
Per pupil
£838k
Total funding
£59k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
9.3%
Overall absence
28.1%
Persistent absence
89
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Waterthorpe Infant School
Questions parents ask about Waterthorpe Infant School
What is Waterthorpe Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Waterthorpe Infant School was rated Good at its most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2024.
What is the catchment area for Waterthorpe Infant School?
No fixed boundary. When Waterthorpe Infant School is oversubscribed, Sheffield allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Waterthorpe Infant School?
Waterthorpe Infant School was not full in 2025: it ran at 63% of its 180 places.
How big are the classes at Waterthorpe Infant School?
Classes at Waterthorpe Infant School average 22.8 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Waterthorpe Infant School?
Waterthorpe Infant School has around 123 pupils on roll. 31% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Waterthorpe Infant School?
9.3% of sessions were missed at Waterthorpe Infant School in 2024/25. 28.1% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Waterthorpe Infant School?
Apply through Sheffield's coordinated admissions process, naming Waterthorpe Infant School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
Does Waterthorpe Infant School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Waterthorpe Infant School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school.
What are Waterthorpe Infant School's term dates?
Waterthorpe Infant School is a community school, so its term dates are set by Sheffield. In 2026 to 2027: Autumn term: Tuesday 1 September to Friday 18 December 2026 (half term Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026); Spring term: Monday 4 January to Thursday 25 March 2027 (half term Monday 15 February to Friday 19 February 2027); Summer term: Monday 12 April to Wednesday 21 July 2027 (half term Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2027). In 2027 to 2028: Autumn term: Wednesday 1 September to Friday 17 December 2027 (half term Monday 25 October to Friday 29 October 2027); Spring term: Tuesday 4 January to Friday 31 March 2028 (half term Monday 14 February to Friday 18 February 2028); Summer term: Tuesday 18 April to Friday 21 July 2028 (half term Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June 2028).
How many road collisions happen near Waterthorpe Infant School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 7 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 4 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise. 0 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Sheffield is 17 (the median across 193 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Waterthorpe Infant School?
Waterthorpe Infant School is at Thorpe Drive, Waterthorpe, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S20 7JU.
Sources: Sheffield term dates; Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)