Watford St John's Church of England Primary School

Watford St John’s Church of England Primary School is a caring and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from strong personal development opportunities. Safeguarding is effective, pupils with SEND are well supported and make good progress from their starting points, and work with families has improved attendance. Pupils enjoy a broad curriculum, educational visits, clubs and roles such as play leaders and school councillors. The school has clear intentions to improve and has prioritised reading, writing and mathematics, but leadership changes and staffing challenges have slowed progress. The quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision require improvement. In some subjects, teaching is inconsistent: teachers do not routinely check what pupils know, activities do not always build on prior knowledge, and some pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The new phonics approach is beginning to help more pupils read fluently, but it is not implemented consistently and some pupils, including in early years, do not learn letter sounds well enough. Early years activities sometimes miss opportunities to deepen children’s language, thinking and vocabulary. The school joined the Poppy Academy Trust in September 2024, and this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and trust staff to listen and help with their worries.
• Pupils behave well, respect school rules and build positive friendships.
• Staff build strong relationships and provide effective support for pupils who need help managing feelings and behaviour.
• The school provides a broad curriculum and has rightly prioritised reading, writing and mathematics.
• High-quality diverse texts are integrated into the curriculum and help pupils develop positive attitudes to reading.
• Targeted small-group support is helping some pupils catch up in reading.
• Pupils with SEND receive tailored support and progress well from their starting points.
• Personal development is strong, with school council, educational visits, clubs, play leaders and online safety education.
• Lunchtimes are positive and attendance has improved through close work with families.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Leaders consider staff workload and well-being, and governors and the trust are committed to sustained improvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently check what pupils know and can do, which slows learning and creates gaps in knowledge.
• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent in some subjects, and activities do not always build on pupils’ prior knowledge.
• Some pupils finish tasks early without extension, while others lack the support needed to understand content fully.
• The phonics programme is not implemented consistently well, and staff do not routinely check pupils’ understanding.
• Some pupils, including children in early years, do not learn letter sounds well enough to read fluently and confidently.
• Early years activities sometimes do not develop children’s curiosity or build on what they already know.
• Staff do not always engage effectively with children in early years, limiting opportunities to extend thinking and vocabulary.
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should because inconsistencies remain.
• Leadership changes and staffing challenges have slowed school improvements.

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 Watford St John's Church of England Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.5% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Watford St John's Church of England 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 Watford St John's Church of England Primary School had 24.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.2% 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, 9.5% of pupils at Watford St John's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.0% 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 Watford St John's Church of England Primary School received £6,388 and spent £6,424 for each of its 410 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £194,000 (£473 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Poppy Academy Trust, income was £6,982 and spending £7,002 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.

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

Watford St John's Church of England Primary School is part of Poppy Academy Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Fair Field Junior School Radlett
• St John's Church of England Infant and Nursery School Radlett

What is Watford St John's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Watford St John's Church of England Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Watford St John's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Watford St John's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Watford St John's Church of England Primary School have?

Watford St John's Church of England Primary School has 401 pupils on roll.

What age range does Watford St John's Church of England Primary School cover?

Watford St John's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Watford St John's Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Watford St John's Church of England Primary School?

Watford St John's Church of England Primary School is at 32 Clarendon Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD17 1JJ.