Four Swannes Primary School

About Four Swannes Primary School

Four Swannes Primary School in Broxbourne received a Requires Improvement rating in its most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2024, a downgrade from the Good rating it held in its previous inspection in 2019. The inspection judged leadership and management, quality of education, and early years provision all as Requires Improvement, while personal development and behaviour and attitudes were rated Good. The most telling exam metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results: only 32% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is half the local authority average of 64% for primary schools in Hertfordshire, and places the school bottom of the 26 primary schools in Broxbourne on this measure. No pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects, and the school ranks in the bottom 5% nationally.

Looking more closely at the individual subject scores, the picture is mixed. In writing, 71% of pupils reached the expected standard, which is a solid result, but reading lagged at 43% and maths at 50%. Average scaled scores in reading and maths were both exactly 100, the national benchmark, suggesting the school is not far off the mark in those subjects but is struggling to push pupils beyond it. Progress scores are not available for any subject, so it is hard to say whether children are improving at a typical rate once they arrive. The school has a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 34%, which is well above the national average, and this context may partly explain the gap between Four Swannes and more affluent local primaries like Little Gaddesden or Harvey Road, which top the LA rankings.

Four Swannes is a small school with 201 pupils against a capacity of 210, and it offers a nursery provision for three-year-olds. It was oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 50 applications for 22 places and 19 first-preference offers, so demand is strong despite the Ofsted rating. Facilities include a library, ICT suite, sensory room, gymnasium and a chapel, and the school runs clubs such as book club, art club, coding and science club. Sports on offer include swimming, athletics, dance and football. The school has a broad range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, social and emotional mental health, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering alternatives, the nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Longlands Primary School and Nursery, about four kilometres away.

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