Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School

Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School is a small infant and nursery school in St Albans with low proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. During this full section 5 inspection, inspectors found the school is performing well overall. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is particularly strong in inclusion and personal development and wellbeing, where provision is highly effective and thoughtfully sequenced. Pupils love coming to school, behave very well, feel safe, and develop confidence, resilience and respect. Reading and phonics are taught particularly well, early years provision is a priority and well designed, and leaders and governors provide purposeful direction with strong staff development. Most other areas, including achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, and leadership and governance, are secure at the expected standard. Pupils generally achieve well, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and attendance for most pupils is above the national average. However, the school has identified areas for further development: the writing curriculum is not yet taught consistently well across all year groups, and staff do not always use assessment information precisely enough to check understanding and target support consistently. There is also some variability in the precision and effectiveness of additional support for a few pupils, and some groups have lower attendance than others. Overall, this is a strong and inclusive school with clear priorities for continued improvement.

Strengths

• Inclusion sits at the heart of the school, with high expectations for all pupils and strong outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is highly effective, carefully sequenced and woven through the curriculum.
• Pupils behave very well, show self-discipline and respect, and act as positive role models for younger children.
• Reading and phonics are taught particularly well, with pupils developing strong early reading skills.
• Early years provision is well thought through, builds knowledge from Nursery to Reception, and prepares children well for Year 1.
• Leaders and governors provide purposeful direction, know the school well and make well-judged decisions.
• Staff receive carefully planned professional development that is applied in classroom practice.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which pupils are made safer and feel safe.
• Pupils benefit from a broad, interesting curriculum and wider experiences such as trips, clubs and swimming.
• Additional needs are identified early, and leaders work collaboratively with parents and external agencies to support pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• The writing curriculum is not taught consistently well across all year groups.
• Staff do not always use assessment information precisely enough to check pupils' understanding and target support consistently.
• There is some variability in the precision and effectiveness of additional support for a few pupils.
• Some groups of pupils have lower attendance than others.

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 Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery 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 Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.9% 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, 8.6% of pupils at Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School received £7,898 and spent £7,950 for each of its 264 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £200,000 (£759 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 St Albans · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School have?

Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School has 279 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School cover?

Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School?

Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School is at 154 Sandridge Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 4AP.