Two Waters Primary School

Two Waters Primary School is a caring and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, valued and part of a community. Pupils behave well, personal development is a particular strength, and pupils benefit from a broad curriculum, a strong reading culture and highly effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Safeguarding is effective, and parents, governors and staff are well engaged. The main areas for improvement are in early writing. The school's handwriting programme is not structured effectively from the early years, so some pupils move on to more complex writing before securing letter formation, spacing and alignment. The early years curriculum is being redeveloped, and intended knowledge is not always clear or well sequenced; some activities do not reliably develop children's writing and transcription skills. Teachers also sometimes expect pupils to concentrate for longer than they can, which affects some younger children's motivation. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it had previously been exempt from routine inspection after an outstanding judgement. Leaders recognise the writing and early years issues and have plans to address them, but further work is also needed to refine staff workload in line with new assessment systems.

Strengths

• Caring and inclusive community where differences are celebrated and pupils feel safe and valued.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum covering the full national curriculum in the main school.
• Highly effective support for pupils with SEND, with tailored learning and full inclusion.
• Strong reading culture with effective phonics teaching and pupil reading ambassadors.
• Pupils behave well and respond positively to the school's values and house points.
• Personal development is richly promoted through leadership roles, British values and wide extracurricular opportunities.
• Effective parental engagement, supportive governance and attention to staff well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Handwriting programme is not effectively structured from the early years, so pupils do not always consolidate transcription skills before moving to complex writing.
• Early years curriculum is being redeveloped and intended knowledge is not always clearly planned or sequenced.
• Some early years activities do not effectively develop children's writing and transcription skills.
• Teachers sometimes expect pupils to concentrate for longer periods than they are able, affecting some younger children's motivation.
• Further work is needed to refine staff workload in line with new assessment systems.

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 Two Waters Primary School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.4% 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, 2.1% of pupils at Two Waters Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were 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 Two Waters Primary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.9% 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, 5.1% of pupils at Two Waters Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% 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 2025–26 Two Waters Primary School received £7,173 and spent £7,169 for each of its 229 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £57,000 (£249 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Hemel Hempstead · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Two Waters Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Two Waters Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Two Waters Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Two Waters Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Two Waters Primary School have?

Two Waters Primary School has 236 pupils on roll.

What age range does Two Waters Primary School cover?

Two Waters Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Two Waters Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 81% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Two Waters Primary School?

Two Waters Primary School is at High Ridge Close, Apsley, High Ridge Close, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP3 0AU.