Windermere Primary School, St. Albans

Good
Primary
Community school
Mixed
Ages 411

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Very likely (~326m)Possible (~466m)Unlikely (~606m)Confidence: high

Estimated admission likelihood based on school density and oversubscription data

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Miss Sarah Gilliver
Pupils:134 / 180 capacity
LA:Hertfordshire
Phone:01727851176
Address:Windermere Avenue, St. Albans, AL1 5QP
Admissions:Not applicable
Status:open

Ofsted Rating

Ofsted · 1 year ago
-

Overall

Requires Improvement

Quality of Education

Good

Behaviour & Attitudes

Good

Personal Development

Requires Improvement

Leadership & Management

Requires Improvement

Early Years

Inspected 17 June 2025View full report
URN:117217
UKPRN:10069554
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:St Albans
Urban/Rural:Urban: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

Windermere Primary provides a warm, nurturing environment where children feel safe and enjoy learning through engaging activities like science experiments and historical investigations. The school has strong behaviour systems and supports pupils' personal development through a range of clubs and enrichment activities that help them think about global issues and develop empathy. Staff work closely with families to support attendance and remove barriers to learning.

Key Strengths

  • Well-designed reading curriculum with effective strategies to help struggling readers catch up
  • Calm, respectful behaviour across the school with positive relationships between staff and pupils
  • Broad, well-sequenced curriculum with engaging hands-on activities in science and history
  • Strong personal development through clubs, trips, and charitable activities that promote respect and inclusion
  • Effective safeguarding arrangements that keep pupils safe

Areas for Improvement

  • Teaching does not consistently focus on essential knowledge pupils need to remember, making it harder for them to recall ideas and make connections
  • Early reading and phonics provision needs strengthening, with reading books not always matched to pupils' phonics ability
  • Support for pupils with SEND is not always closely matched to their individual learning needs
  • Teachers do not consistently set high expectations for the quality of pupils' work across all subjects and year groups
  • Assessment is not used purposefully enough to check understanding and monitor curriculum impact

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with clear systems in place to keep pupils safe and identify barriers to their wellbeing.

Extracurricular Activities

Clubs, trips, charitable activities, play leader and monitor roles, breakfast club

Windermere Primary School is a welcoming school where pupils are happy and feel safe with generally calm and respectful behaviour. However, the quality of education remains inconsistent, and the school requires improvement in teaching delivery and early years provision.

At a Glance

40.3%

Free School Meals

No

Boarding

No

Nursery

No

Sixth Form

No

Special Measures

What Parents Think

26 responses
Would recommend81%
Child is happy81%
Well taught92%
Good progress73%
Feels safe81%
Well behaved77%
Bullying dealt with31%
Kept informed81%
Handles concerns69%
Wider development81%

Source: Ofsted Parent View - % who strongly agree or agree

Primary Performance (KS2)

Academic year 2025/26

KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)

2024
2025
Reading+19ppMaths+4ppWriting+1pp

Reading has improved from 66% to 85%. Maths has improved from 66% to 70%. Writing has remained stable at around 56%.

Class Sizes

22.6

Avg class size

17.3

Infant (KS1)

26.5

KS2

7

Total classes

2024/25 academic year

Getting There

Bus Stops

Frobisher Road (opp)
194m · 3 min walk
Lynton Avenue (adj)
243m · 4 min walk
St Vincent Drive (opp)
281m · 5 min walk
Glenlyn Avenue (adj)
282m · 5 min walk
Camp Road (N-bound)
310m · 5 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

School Occupancy

74%

Available places

134 pupils

180 capacity

46 spare places available

Area Demand Pressure - St. Albans

Low pressure
New homes approved:151
Projected new pupils:38

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for St. Albans

Admissions Demand - Hertfordshire

Low demand0.86x oversubscription

Places available

14,951

Applications

12,834

Got 1st preference

88.0%

Got preferred school

98.2%

Primary admissions across Hertfordshire (2025/26)

Inspection History(8)

17 June 2025
Quality of EducationRequires Improvement
Behaviour & AttitudesGood
Personal DevelopmentGood
Leadership & ManagementRequires Improvement
Early YearsRequires Improvement
22 November 2023
15 March 2018
Leadership & ManagementGood

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SEN Provision

How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.

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Pupil Demographics

The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.

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Teachers & Staff

Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.

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School Funding

Annual funding per pupil, total budget, pupil premium grants, and how the school's resources compare to similar schools nationally.

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Pupil Absence
2024/25

7.80523%

Overall absence

20%

Persistent absence

160

Enrolments

Authorised5.5313%
Unauthorised2.27394%
Persistent (10%+)20%
Severe (50%+)3.125%

Absence trend

4.28521%
18/19
2.61378%
20/21
5.47386%
21/22
7.65619%
22/23
6.85064%
23/24
7.80523%
24/25
Overall absence rate

Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.

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