Primary schools in Watford
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This page provides brief details of primary schools in Watford, a borough in Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom.
All the state-funded primary schools in Watford are co-educational. There are two Roman Catholic schools in Watford, both of which are voluntary aided schools. The remaining schools are all non-faith community schools. The Local Education Authority is Hertfordshire County Council.
There are still some linked pairs of infant schools and junior schools, with the infant school covering Reception and Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) and the junior school covering Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6). However most have been amalgamated in a single Junior Mixed Infant (JMI) school or (equivalently) primary school.
| Name | Faith | Type | Opened | Intake | DCSF number | Ofsted number | Web | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alban Wood | – | Primary | 30 | 3981 | 134685 | W | ||
| Beechfield | – | Primary | 30 | 2020 | 117094 | W | ||
| Berrygrove | – | Primary | 2005 | 90 | 3980 | 134684 | W | |
| Bromet | – | Primary | 40 | 2385 | 117308 | W | ||
| Cassiobury | – | Infants | 1968 | 60 | 2354 | 117293 | W | |
| Junior | 2132 | 117167 | W | |||||
| Central | – | Primary | 1950 | 30 | 2116 | 117156 | W | |
| Chater | – | Infants | 1988 | 60 | 2122 | 117159 | W | |
| Junior | 2120 | 117158 | W | |||||
| Cherry Tree | – | Primary | 30 | 2432 | 117339 | W | ||
| Coates Way | – | JMI | 1972 | 30 | 2433 | 117340 | W | |
| Field | – | Infants | 1891 | 60 | 2124 | 117161 | W | |
| Junior | 2123 | 117160 | W | |||||
| Holy Rood | RC | Primary | 1893 | 60 | 3985 | 127416 | W | |
| Holywell | – | Primary | 45 | 2349 | 117290 | W | ||
| Kingsway | – | Infants | 1938 | 60 | 2395 | 117317 | W | |
| Junior | 2133 | 117168 | W | |||||
| Knutsford | – | Primary | 1939 | 60 | 2130 | 117165 | W | |
| Laurance Haines | – | Primary | 1972 | 60 | 2398 | 117320 | W | |
| Leavesden Green | – | JMI | 30 | 2407 | 117324 | W | ||
| Nascot Wood | – | Infants | 1971 | 60 | 2991 | 117374 | W | |
| Junior | 2389 | 117311 | W | |||||
| Orchard | – | Primary | 1958 | 30 | 2115 | 117155 | W | |
| Parkgate | – | Infants | 1907 | 60 | 2126 | 117163 | W | |
| Junior | 2125 | 117162 | W | |||||
| St Anthony's | RC | Primary | 1974 | 30 | 2428 | 117495 | W |
[edit] Notes
Berrygrove Primary School replaced Meriden Primary, Garston Infants and Lea Farm Junior (formerly Garston Junior) Schools.
The Cassiobury schools lie within the affluent Cassiobury estate, and are heavily oversubscribed, with 4 applicants per place.[1] The junior school has the highest Key Stage 2 results in Watford, and half of the pupils typically go on to Watford Grammar School for Boys and Watford Grammar School for Girls.[2]
The school badge is based on the arms of the Capell family (Earls of Essex), owners of the original Cassiobury, which included the site of the modern estate.[3]
Central Primary School occupies a Grade II listed building built in 1884 to house the Watford Grammar School for Boys, which moved to West Watford in 1912. Watford Grammar School for Girls resided in the smaller building next door in the same period. The buildings then housed the Watford Central School until its move to Bushey in 1950 to become Bushey Grammar School, one of the predecessors of Queens' School. (The legend "Higher Elementary Schools", in terracotta tiles on the front of the building, replaced the earlier "Watford Endowed Schools" at the time of the Central School.)[4]
The school badge is based on that of the Watford Central School, which featured a crosslet fitchy and a scallop, details from the arms of Capell (Earl of Essex) and Villiers (Earl of Clarendon) respectively, though the crosslet has since been altered to a sword.[3][5]
Holy Rood Catholic Primary School is the oldest Roman Catholic school in Watford, started by the Dominican sisters in a building (now Grade II listed) adjacent to Holy Rood church in central Watford.[6] It taught pupils up to the age of 14 until the opening of St. Michael's Catholic High School in 1955, when it became a primary school. After many decades of overcrowding, the school moved to its present site in 1969.[7]
Knutsford Primary School lost its original school building in a fire in November 1999. After three years in temporary accommodation in the school fields, the school moved into a new building on the original site in 2002.[8] The school is oversubscribed, with 3.5 applicants per place.[1]
The Nascot Wood schools, within the affluent Nascot Wood area, are the most oversubscribed in Watford, with nearly 5 applicants for each place.[1]
Parkgate Junior School was originally a boys' school, becoming mixed in August 1921.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Starting Primary School, Hertfordshire County Council.
- ^ Cassiobury Junior School: School Profile, directgov, 2008.
- ^ a b William Page (ed.) (1908). "Watford: Manors", A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2, Victoria County History, pp451-464. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
- ^ Main block at Watford Central Primary School, Images of England, English Heritage National Monuments Record.
- ^ Watford Central School and Bushey Grammar School nostalgia site.
- ^ Former Convent of St Vincent, Percy Road, Watford, Images of England, English Heritage National Monuments Record.
- ^ "The Schools", in R. Bennett and J.E. Wright, Church of the Holy Rood, Watford, 1989 (ISBN 0-9515046-0-6).
- ^ The Big Fire, Knutsford School.
- ^ Our School History, Parkgate Junior School.
