St Meryl School - The School Companion

St Meryl School

Three Rivers · WD19 5BT

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 219 pupils, 11.1% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 8.7% on SEN support Behaviour 4.9% absence rate Staff 7.5% turnover Financials £6,650 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Meryl School

General Information

Address: The Mead, Carpenders Park, Watford, WD19 5BT – View on map
Phone: 02084281695
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Craig Davies
Age range: 3-11 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

219 pupils out of 240 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 22
% eligible for free school meals: 11.1%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Three Rivers average)
English as an additional language: 47% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 7.5% a year (Three Rivers 14.7%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Hertfordshire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 33 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 13 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 3 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Hertfordshire (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 4.9%
Persistently absent pupils: 9.8%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 8.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
Hearing impairment: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card March 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 57% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 17% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 11 percentage points below the Three Rivers average (68%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 53% against an expected 68%)
3-year average (expected standard): 53%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 67% · Writing 70% · Maths 73% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 63%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 104
Based on: 30 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolThree Rivers averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 11 percentage points below the Three Rivers average (68%).

Year 6 SATs: 20th of 27 junior and primary schools in the area

#18Maple Cross Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School61%
#19Divine Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School59%
#20St Meryl School57%
=21Abbots Langley School56%
=21St Mary's Rickmansworth CofE Primary School56%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Rickmansworth Park Junior Mixed and Infant School93%
#2Harvey Road Primary School87%
=3St Paul's Church of England Primary School, Langleybury86%
=3The Russell School86%
#5Arnett Hills Junior Mixed and Infant School81%
=6Chorleywood Primary School80%
=6Christ Church Chorleywood CofE School80%
#8St Peter's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School79%
#9Sarratt Church of England Primary School76%
#10Oxhey Wood Primary School75%
=11Warren Dell Primary School73%
=11Yorke Mead Primary School73%
=13Little Green Junior School71%
=13St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School71%
#15Eastbury Farm Primary School70%
#16St Joseph Catholic Primary School68%
#17Greenfields Primary School67%
#18Maple Cross Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School61%
#19Divine Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School59%
#20St Meryl School57%
=21Abbots Langley School56%
=21St Mary's Rickmansworth CofE Primary School56%
#23St John Catholic Primary School50%
#24Tanners Wood Junior Mixed and Infant School47%
#25Woodhall Primary School39%
#26Shepherd Primary37%
#27Bedmond Academy33%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,650 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

19th of 26 primary schools in Three Rivers for spending per pupil

#17Rickmansworth Park Junior Mixed and Infant School£6,723
#18Chorleywood Primary School£6,708
#19St Meryl School£6,650
#20Yorke Mead Primary School£6,510
#21Christ Church Chorleywood CofE School£6,424

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Warren Dell Primary School£11,518
#2Woodhall Primary School£10,691
#3St John Catholic Primary School£9,198
#4St Paul's Church of England Primary School, Langleybury£8,269
#5Bedmond Academy£8,213
#6Maple Cross Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School£8,203
#7Shepherd Primary£8,005
#8Sarratt Church of England Primary School£7,354
#9Greenfields Primary School£7,348
#10St Mary's Rickmansworth CofE Primary School£7,158
#11St Joseph Catholic Primary School£7,003
#12St Peter's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£6,861
#13The Russell School£6,843
#14Harvey Road Primary School£6,825
#15Abbots Langley School£6,806
#16Oxhey Wood Primary School£6,758
#17Rickmansworth Park Junior Mixed and Infant School£6,723
#18Chorleywood Primary School£6,708
#19St Meryl School£6,650
#20Yorke Mead Primary School£6,510
#21Christ Church Chorleywood CofE School£6,424
#22St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School£6,415
#23Tanners Wood Junior Mixed and Infant School£6,383
#24Divine Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School£6,138
#25Eastbury Farm Primary School£6,084
#26Arnett Hills Junior Mixed and Infant School£6,071

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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