Riverside Community Special School
Scratchface Lane, Purbrook, Waterlooville, PO7 5QDOpen in maps (opens in a new tab)
Riverside Community Special School is a special school in Waterlooville for ages 3 to 11. It is one of the 600 schools in Hampshire. Its latest Ofsted rating is Good, from an inspection in June 2023.
Ofsted inspection
Inspected 6 June 2023, report published 7 September 2023
- Overall effectiveness
- Good
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years provision
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Met
What Ofsted said
From the inspection on 6 June 2023
Pupils are happy and safe at this inclusive school. A sense of respect and kindness pervades. Pupils treat everyone at school with consideration and encourage each other to do their best. Pupils' relationships with adults in the school are excellent. Staff know and nurture the needs of pupils very well. Pupils trust staff and know that they want the best for them. Leaders have very high ambitions for pupils' personal development. It is truly at the heart of everything that takes place at school. Through the 'play and interaction' programme, pupils learn how to share their views and thoughts. They value and enjoy the various leadership roles and opportunities that they have. As school council members and 'classroom helpers', pupils learn the importance of making a positive contribution to society. Pupils know the high expectations that staff have for them. They rise to these in their behaviour and work. Pupils' behaviour is exceptional, and the school environment is often calm and purposeful. Breaktimes are joyous times, and pupils play very well together. On the rare occasions when pupils find it hard to regulate their emotions, staff support pupils with sensitivity. Staff are highly expert in the help they provide for pupils to have positive interactions.
What the school should improve
- Leaders have not yet completed their work to embed phonics as the primary way of teaching pupils to read. This means that pupils are not securing knowledge of sounds or developing fluency in reading as well as they could. Leaders should ensure all staff have the knowledge to support pupils with their reading and that the books used to help pupils learn to read are closely matched to the sounds they are learning.
- Leaders are still making refinements to the curriculum in some non-core subjects. This means that pupils are not learning as well as they could across the entire curriculum. Leaders should ensure that for all subjects taught, there is a progression of knowledge sequenced towards ambitious end points and that these are shared with staff.
Exam results
SATs results (key stage 2), 2024/25
17 pupils took the tests
Pupil numbers and mix
157 pupils on roll, with places for 149
Schools near Riverside Community Special School
| School | Distance | Ofsted | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Waterloo School | 1 mile | Ofsted: Good | 0% met the expected standard |
| Prospect School | 1 mile | Ofsted judgements: Good | Attainment 8: 8.6 |
| Jubilee School | 2 miles | No Ofsted inspection | Not published |
| The Wymering School | 2 miles | Report card: Expected standard to strong standard | Attainment 8: 0.7 |
| Redwood Park Academy | 2 miles | Ofsted: Outstanding | Not published |
School details
- School type
- Community special school
- Sector
- Local authority maintained
- Age range
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jodie Hope
- Phone
- 02392250138
- Address
- Scratchface Lane, Purbrook, Waterlooville, PO7 5QD
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- URN
- 116600
School details from Get Information about Schools, 17 September 2026. Ofsted outcomes published to 31 August 2026. Exam results for 2024/25 from the Department for Education. Pupil mix from the school census, 2025/26.