The Grove Academy

The Grove Academy has improved since its previous inspection and now provides a good quality of education within a warm, inclusive and happy school community. Pupils are well behaved, attend well and benefit from strong personal development, while the early years provision is a particular standout: children in Nursery and Reception get off to a flying start in a caring and nurturing environment.

Strengths

• Warm and inclusive culture with strong relationships between pupils and staff
• Early years provision is exceptionally strong and gives children a flying start
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported very accurately
• High-quality training and strong subject knowledge help teachers explain and model concepts clearly
• Phonics and early reading are taught skilfully, helping pupils become fluent and confident readers
• Pupils behave well, listen carefully and value the views of others
• Attendance is good and the school acts swiftly when it starts to drop
• Personal development helps pupils develop a strong moral code and manage emotions effectively
• Leadership, trust and trustees work harmoniously and are considerate of staff workload
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some curriculum areas, pupils do not have enough opportunity to recap and revise important knowledge
• A small number of pupils do not get sufficient opportunity to apply phonics learning in their writing, which affects spelling accuracy

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 The Grove Academy attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.5% 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, 2.7% of pupils at The Grove Academy 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 The Grove Academy had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.8% 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, 13.7% of pupils at The Grove Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 2024–25 The Grove Academy received £7,119 and spent £7,171 for each of its 461 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £711,000 (£1,542 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Aspire Academies Trust, income was £6,720 and spending £6,973 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Watford · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

The Grove Academy is part of Aspire Academies Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Knutsford Primary Academy Watford
• Bedmond Academy Abbots Langley
• Broadfield Academy Hemel Hempstead
• Hammond Academy Hemel Hempstead
• Bovingdon Primary Academy Hemel Hempstead

What is The Grove Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Grove Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was The Grove Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

The Grove Academy was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does The Grove Academy have?

The Grove Academy has 473 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Grove Academy cover?

The Grove Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are The Grove Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is The Grove Academy?

The Grove Academy is at Fourth Avenue, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD25 9RH.