Hatfield Heath Primary School

Hatfield Heath Primary School is performing well, successfully maintaining the standards established during its previous inspection in January 2019. The school boasts a positive culture of learning where pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, receive tailored support, fostering an environment where they feel welcomed and engaged. The commitment to ensuring high aspirations among students is evident in both their academic pursuits and personal development, with a curriculum that actively encourages creativity, teamwork, and a sense of community. While the overall performance of the school is commendable, there are areas that require improvement, notably in vocabulary development across subjects. Staff are encouraged to develop a unified approach to reinforce key vocabulary, thereby enhancing pupils' understanding and written expression. Nonetheless, the school has been praised for its effective safeguarding measures, strong attendance focus, and the positive relationships fostered among students and parents alike.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy their time at school and feel welcomed.
• The school has a strong focus on developing communication and language in early years.
• The early reading curriculum is well structured and effective.
• Pupils with SEND receive effective support and access the full curriculum.
• The curriculum is ambitious and engages pupils with practical applications.
• Pupils behave well and act as role models for each other.
• The personal development programme effectively teaches fundamental British values.

Areas for Improvement

• Key vocabulary is not consistently reinforced across all subjects.
• Pupils' understanding of complex vocabulary is not routinely checked.

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 Hatfield Heath Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.0% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Hatfield Heath 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 Hatfield Heath Primary School had 21.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.2% 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, 12.4% of pupils at Hatfield Heath Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Hatfield Heath Primary School received £6,049 and spent £5,941 for each of its 206 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £207,000 (£1,003 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of The Learning Partnership Trust, income was £6,085 and spending £5,879 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 Bishop'S Stortford · Essex local authority: places and applications

Hatfield Heath Primary School is part of The Learning Partnership Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Roseacres Primary School Bishop'S Stortford
• Takeley Primary School Dunmow

What is Hatfield Heath Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hatfield Heath Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Hatfield Heath Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hatfield Heath Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Hatfield Heath Primary School have?

Hatfield Heath Primary School has 210 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hatfield Heath Primary School cover?

Hatfield Heath Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Hatfield Heath Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Hatfield Heath Primary School?

Hatfield Heath Primary School is at Hatfield Heath, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM22 7EA.