School Chooser

Fern House School

Special · ages 5-16MixedAcademy79 pupilsEnfield
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWe don't score this type of school.
OfstedAs expected teachingOfsted report card, April 2026
Strong pass in English and maths0%England 46%
Attendance84.2%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families72%Far more than most schools
PlacesFull79 pupils, 70 places
Pupils per teacher6.3School workforce census

Fern House School is a sponsored special academy in Enfield for boys and girls aged 5 to 16. It has 79 pupils, 9 more than it has places for. About 72 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in April 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.

Keswick Drive, Enfield, EN3 6NY01992 760860fernhouseschool.orgMrs Laura Astarita headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted visited on 28 April 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.

TeachingOfsted calls this “curriculum and teaching”
As expected
Achievement
As expected
Behaviour and attendanceOfsted calls this “attendance and behaviour”
As expected
Support for every childOfsted calls this “inclusion”
Strong
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development and wellbeing”
As expected
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and governance”
Strong
SafeguardingAre pupils kept safe?
Pupils are kept safe
Met
Ofsted's scale:ExceptionalStrong standardExpected standardNeeds attentionUrgent improvement

Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.

Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
9 March 2022Academy First Section 5Good

Results

GCSE results, summer 2025

10 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.

Average GCSE score1.0
England 46.8
Official name: Attainment 8
Strong pass in English and maths0%
England 46%
Official name: Grade 5+ in English and maths
Standard pass in English and maths0%
England 66%
Official name: Grade 4+ in English and maths
All GCSE measures, year by year
Measure202520242023202220192018†EnfieldEngland
Pupils at the end of Year 1110910834
Average GCSE scoreAttainment 81.046.946.8
Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths0%46%46%
Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths0%66%66%
Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score0.004.334.15
Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry0%60%41%

† These results are for Aylands School, the school this one replaced in November 2017. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

7 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.

Reached the expected level at 110%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level0%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score100.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score96.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 0%0%20172019: 0%0%20192025: 0%0%2025
Since 2017: +0%
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure20252024202320192018†2017†EnfieldEngland
Pupils tested754757
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths0%0%0%70%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths0%0%0%11%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score100.092.0106.0105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score96.091.0105.8104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score98.092.0106.7105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard43%0%0%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard0%0%0%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)0%0%29%
Reading progressReading progress score-16.1
Maths progressMaths progress score-18.1

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

† These results are for Aylands School, the school this one replaced in November 2017. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

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 Enfield council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll79Census January 2026
Places70113% full
Pupils from low-income families72%72% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English11%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support0%0 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan100%79 pupils with a plan
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)68%£68,400 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls58 / 21
White British pupils44%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (47), Autistic spectrum disorder (16), language and communications needs (11), Specific learning difficulty (4), Severe learning difficulty (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll797265676545
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals72%71%69%73%71%62%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language11%13%9%9%11%7%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support3%0%2%0%4%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans97%100%99%100%96%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 84.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance84.2%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school45.5%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils61.12024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission7.0%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence15.8%22.6%22.5%22.6%39.9%16.2%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence8.8%12.2%13.4%13.2%33.9%10.3%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence7.0%10.4%9.2%9.5%6.0%5.8%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence45.5%64.9%58.3%63.0%95.7%57.1%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate61.1100.0156.7172.3111.1
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

Where the 10 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.

Still in education, work or training80%and stayed there for at least six months
Earlier years
Destination2022/23 leavers2021/22 leavers
Still in education, work or training80%50%
Education80%50%
Apprenticeship0%0%
Work0%0%
Not in education, work or training0%25%

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers12.6full-time equivalent, 13 people
Pupils per teacher6.3Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers77%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants15.6full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£60,005
Teachers who left in the year0%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher3.52024/25

Money

From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£31,167England £30,720. Total £2.2m
Income per pupil£33,028England £33,526. Total £2.4m
Spent on teachers per pupil£9,972England £11,966
Money in reserve14%A healthy amount put by: £337k, £4,674 per pupil. England 16%
Money in against money out+£134kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£31,167spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m67012 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate77 per 1,000 people15% lower than the England average
Typical house price£475,000Enfield
Nearest bus stop140 mMalvern Road (EN3), 7 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Chesterfield Primary SchoolAcademy90 m467Good 202226Compare
Prince of Wales Primary SchoolCouncil530 m506Report card 202623Compare
Ark John Keats AcademyFree school610 m1,732Good 202372Compare
Oasis Academy EnfieldAcademy630 m690No overall grade 202537Compare
Keys Meadow Primary SchoolAcademy640 m377Good 202339Compare
Freezywater St George's CofE VA Primary SchoolChurch of England670 m220Good 202267Compare
Salmons Brook SchoolFree school680 m66No overall grade 2025Compare
Freshsteps Independent schoolIndependent690 m55Not inspectedCompare

Questions parents ask

Is Fern House School a good school?

Fern House School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from April 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.

What is Fern House School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 28 April 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as strong.

How good are Fern House School's GCSE results?

In summer 2025, 0% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 1.0, against 46.8 for England.

How good are Fern House School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 0% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.

How many pupils does Fern House School have?

79 pupils aged 5 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 70 places, so it is 113% full.

What is attendance like at Fern House School?

Pupils were in school 84.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 45% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Keswick Drive, Enfield, EN3 6NY
Telephone
01992 760860
Website
www.fernhouseschool.org
Headteacher
Mrs Laura Astarita
Type of school
Sponsored special academy (Academy special sponsor led, academies)
Phase
Special school, ages 5-16
Gender
Mixed
Multi-academy trust
Connect Education Trust (8 schools)
Local authority
Enfield
Ward
Bullsmoor
Constituency
Enfield North
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 November 2017 (new provision)
URN
145232 · LAESTAB 3087001 · UKPRN 10065901
Formerly
Aylands School

Recent changes

  • New KS4 results for 2024/25

Where these figures come from