Special school in London, Lewisham
Watergate School
Lushington Road, Bellingham, London, SE6 3WG
Ofsted
Remained Outstanding at its last ungraded inspection, on 10 March 2022.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
Exam results
Special schools serve pupils whose needs the standard measures were not designed to describe, so results are not shown or ranked here.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 185
- Places
- 186
- How full
- Nearly full — 185 of 186 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 46 / 139
- Overall absence
- 10%
- Persistently absent
- 36%
England 5.8%
England 14.7% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 44%
- English as an additional language
- 39%
- With an EHC plan
- 98%
- On SEN support
- 2%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Lewisham 034D, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 33%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 21%
- Households owning their home
- 23%
- Households in social housing
- 55%
- Households with no car
- 54%
- Adults economically inactive
- 38%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Foundation special school
- Phase
- Special
- Ages
- Ages 4–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- *Co-op Brent Knoll and Watergate Co-operative Trust
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Linda Matthews
- Local authority
- Lewisham
- Ward
- Bellingham
- Constituency
- Lewisham East
- URN
- 100766
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest special schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brent Knoll SchoolFoundation special school | No grade | — | 0.9 mi |
| New Woodlands SchoolCommunity special school | No grade | — | 1 mi |
| Greenvale SchoolCommunity special school | Outstanding 2023 | — | 1.2 mi |
| Drumbeat School and ASD ServiceCommunity special school | No grade | — | 1.6 mi |
| The Young Women's HubOther independent special school | No grade | — | 1.6 mi |
| The Anchor SENDfriendly CentreOther independent special school | No grade | — | 1.8 mi |
| The Tutorial FoundationOther independent special school | No grade | — | 2.3 mi |
| King's Oak SchoolCommunity special school | No grade | — | 3.1 mi |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.