Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery
Merry Hill Road, Bushey, WD23 1SU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Acting Headteacher
- Mrs Anna Smith
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Westminster
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Hertsmere
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 348
- Pupils on roll
- 346
- URN
- 117488
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01923901179
About this school
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Bushey. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 346 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 9 March 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 45 | 39 | 44 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 71% | 74% | 77% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 5% | 14% |
| Expected standard in reading | 89% | 92% | 82% |
| Expected standard in maths | 87% | 87% | 91% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 91% | 92% | 86% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 109.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 107.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | +4.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +4.10 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 71% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 74% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 77% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 340 |
| 2023/24 | 334 |
| 2024/25 | 351 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery compares
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery ranked 71st of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 71% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 77% | 4.5% | 6.3% | 346 | — |
| Bushey Manor Junior School | 68% | 3.8% | 9.2% | 235 | 0.3 miles |
| Bushey and Oxhey Infant School | — | 5.7% | 3% | 176 | 0.4 miles |
| Bournehall Primary School | 77% | 5.2% | 19.9% | 205 | 0.5 miles |
| Ashfield Junior School | 75% | 4.5% | 17% | 219 | 0.7 miles |
| Little Reddings Primary School | 43% | 7.3% | 33.3% | 312 | 0.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 6.29%
- English as an additional language
- 18.8%
- Overall absence
- 4.51%
- Persistent absence
- 6.18%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bushey Manor Junior School0.3 miles
Primary · Bushey
-
Bushey and Oxhey Infant School0.4 miles
Primary · Bushey
-
Bournehall Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Bushey
-
Ashfield Junior School0.7 miles
Primary · Bushey
-
Little Reddings Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Bushey
Other schools in Bushey
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery ranks 2nd of the 8 ranked primary schools in Bushey.
- Ashfield Junior School Primary
- Bournehall Primary School Primary
- Bushey and Oxhey Infant School Primary
- Bushey Heath Primary School Primary
- Bushey Manor Junior School Primary
- Hartsbourne Primary School Primary
- Highwood Primary School Primary
- Little Reddings Primary School Primary
- Merry Hill Infant School and Nursery Primary
- Bushey Meads School Secondary
- Queens' School Secondary
- The Grange Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery teach?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Bushey.
- Who is the acting headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery?
- The acting headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery is Mrs Anna Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery has 346 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery full?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery has capacity for 348 pupils and 346 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery a faith school?
- Yes. Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Westminster.
- Does Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery as having nursery classes.
- How have Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 71% in 2022/23 and 77% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery rank locally?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery ranked 71st of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 71% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery's absence rate?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery's overall absence rate is 4.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.