Birchwood Nursery School
Birchwood Nursery School is a local authority nursery school in Hatfield for boys and girls aged 2 to 5. It has 173 pupils. About 3 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.
Birchway, Crawford Road, Hatfield, AL10 0PD01707 262648birchwoodnursery.herts.sch.ukMrs Margaret Stocks headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 27 February 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 30 November 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Outstanding (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Hertfordshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (17), Vision impairment (2), Hearing impairment (1), Physical disability (1), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 173 | 174 | 173 | 175 | 173 | 166 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 27% | 25% | 24% | 22% | 22% | 23% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 15% | 11% | 5% | 6% | 8% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 0% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birchwood Avenue Primary School | Council | 90 m | 202 | Good 2023 | 15 | Compare |
| Countess Anne Church of England School | Academy | 660 m | 209 | Outstanding 2019 | 78 | Compare |
| Green Lanes Primary School | Council | 990 m | 413 | Good 2023 | 66 | Compare |
| Onslow St Audrey's School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 787 | Good 2023 | 17 | Compare |
| The Ryde School | Council | 0.7 miles | 191 | Good 2024 | 72 | Compare |
| Hatfield Community Free School | Free school | 0.7 miles | 406 | No overall grade 2025 | 48 | Compare |
| Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 942 | Outstanding 2022 | 80 | Compare |
| Southfield School | Council | 0.7 miles | 108 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Birchwood Nursery School a good school?
Birchwood Nursery School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in February 2024.
What is Birchwood Nursery School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Birchwood Nursery School outstanding at its last full inspection on 27 February 2024.
How many pupils does Birchwood Nursery School have?
173 pupils aged 2 to 5 were on the roll in January 2026.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Birchway, Crawford Road, Hatfield, AL10 0PD
- Telephone
- 01707 262648
- Website
- www.birchwoodnursery.herts.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Margaret Stocks
- Type of school
- Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Nursery school, ages 2-5, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward
- Hatfield Central
- Constituency
- Welwyn Hatfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 117069 · LAESTAB 9191008
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.