A Watford school has dropped from 'outstanding' to 'good', despite being given just one point to improve.

In a report published today (December 12), Nascot Wood Infant and Nursery School was found 'outstanding' in two categories - “personal development” and “early years provision” - but as it was just ‘good’ in the other three categories, it did not keep its top grade overall.

The Nascot Wood Road school was given Ofsted’s highest possible rating in 2011.

The report was still full of praise, however, and highlighted that “pupils happily attend” the “welcoming school”.

“They love to learn and enjoy the exciting activities that the school provides,” the inspectors added.

“Pupils enthusiastically talk about the animal characters staff use to guide them towards being better learners.”

Other areas for praise included reading, behaviour, SEND provision, safeguarding, and attendance.

Headteacher Pam Scragg highlighted that the inspectors had even more praise overall than could fit within the short Ofsted report, particularly around the nurturing environment and “well above average” performance data for the local authority and England.

“Whilst most of our curriculum is strong, particularly for English, maths and science, we have just one development point relating to the curriculum for some of the foundation subjects,” she added.

“This area is something about which we are already aware and have been working on through subject leader action plans and our School Development Plan.

Watford Observer: Nascot Wood Schools.Nascot Wood Schools. (Image: Google Street View)

“The inspectors agreed with the clarity and focus of these action plans and evaluated that we have the capacity to implement the objectives within the plans.

“They also acknowledged the passion of our subject leaders and their vision for creating a bespoke curriculum that meets the needs of our learners. We will continue to work on these plans over the course of this academic year.”

In the one point for improvement given, the report said that “in some foundation subjects, learning objectives are too broad”.

Ofsted inspectors said that this makes it harder for teachers to assess pupils’ knowledge and adapt their teaching.

The report follows Nascot Wood Junior School, at the same location, being found ‘outstanding’ overall in a report published on November 30.