Avanti Brook Primary School Review 2026: A growing, values-led new school in Bishop’s Stortford North

This is a school where published attainment and ranking data is not yet a meaningful deciding factor in the way it might be for a long-established primary. In the current results, there is no Key Stage 2 performance profile to report, and the school is not yet ranked for primary outcomes. That fits the wider picture of a new school still building through the year groups.

Parents can still evaluate academic intent by looking at what the school says it teaches, how it structures early reading and mathematics, and how it supports pupils who need extra help or extra stretch. In a new setting, those operational choices can matter more than headline data, particularly in Reception to Year 2 where foundations are laid.

A practical point: the capacity is listed as 446, with a much smaller number currently on roll while the school grows. Smaller cohorts often mean more tailored communication with families and clearer visibility of pupil progress, but it can also mean fewer peer-group “matches” for some children until the school reaches full size.

The school’s curriculum messaging emphasises “powerful knowledge” and subject disciplines, paired with deliberate work on identity, perspective, and purpose.

Where this becomes tangible for day-to-day learning is the strong emphasis on routines that support pupils’ self-regulation and readiness to learn. Yoga and mindfulness are presented not as occasional enrichment but as embedded practice. For some children, particularly those who are emotionally sensitive or easily dysregulated, that can be a genuine advantage, calm bodies tend to support better listening, writing stamina, and cooperative play. For other children who prefer constant movement and competition, parents may want to check how physical education, outdoor learning, and active play are balanced across the week.

In early primary, the crucial question is usually reading. The website signposts dedicated reading and phonics information (even where parents may need to explore further for detail). The best “evidence check” for families is to ask about phonics programme choice, decodable reading books, how often children read with an adult, and what catch-up looks like when pupils fall behind in Reception and Year 1.

Because Avanti Brook is still building through its year groups, there is not yet a long track record of end-of-primary transition patterns to local secondaries. In established primaries, parents can often infer likely destinations from geography and historic flows. Here, it is more useful to think for local options and future alignment.

Bishop’s Stortford families typically consider a mixture of local comprehensive schools, faith options, and selective routes depending on child and family preference. As Avanti Brook reaches Year 6 over time, clearer patterns will emerge, shaped by cohort profile and parental choice.

For now, the most helpful step is to ask directly how the school plans transition as it grows, including what relationships it intends to build with likely receiving secondaries, and how it will support children who sit entrance tests for selective schools, if families choose that route.

Admissions are an important part of the Avanti Brook story, because demand is already high relative to places in the available year groups.

Reception demand shows 85 applications for 25 offers, with an oversubscribed status and 3.4 applications per place applications per place. That is strong demand for a new school and suggests families should treat entry as competitive.)

The school is also explicit that, as a growing school, it is currently accepting applications for Pre-School, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 only, and plans to open an additional year group each year until it is fully open through to Year 6 in 2030.

For Hertfordshire coordinated Reception entry, the key timing for September 2026 entry has already passed. The published county timetable shows the on-time deadline as 15 January 2026, with late explanations due by 2 February 2026, and an acceptance deadline of 23 April 2026.

If you are considering in-year entry (for example, Year 1 or Year 2), the school indicates in-year applications run through the usual Hertfordshire process.

Practical shortlist tip: if you are comparing multiple local schools and trying to judge realistic chances, FindMySchool’s Map Search is useful for checking how your home location relates to likely oversubscription rules and distance patterns, even when a brand-new school does not yet have many years of historic “last offered” data to anchor to.

Wellbeing is not presented as a separate “pastoral layer” here. It is described as part of the school’s core design, with yoga and mindfulness positioned as regular practice and framed as supporting good mental health and engagement.

On safeguarding and culture, a key contextual point is inspection. As of the latest Ofsted listing, there is no published inspection report on the Ofsted report page for the school, which aligns with the school being newly opened and still early in its lifecycle.

For families, the practical implication is that you should put more weight on direct, specific questions: how behaviour is managed day-to-day, what happens when pupils struggle to regulate, how bullying is prevented and handled in early years, and how the school communicates concerns.

Extracurricular life exists, but it is still developing, and the school’s own clubs page mainly signposts that options vary and encourages families to contact reception for current details.

That said, there are two concrete elements parents can evaluate now:

1. Wraparound care: the school’s wraparound information describes breakfast provision in partnership with Premier Education, including early morning timing for younger year groups.

2. Community and service: the website describes community-facing activities such as links with local organisations and community events, which may appeal to families who want a school that encourages service and local connection as part of pupils’ development.

A sensible way to assess “beyond lessons” at a growing school is to ask what is guaranteed for every child (for example, music, sport, outdoor learning, performances) versus what depends on cohort size and staffing that year (for example, niche clubs).

School day timings are clearly set out: start time is 8:40am and the end of day is 3:15pm, with gates opening at 8:30am.

Wraparound exists via an external provider relationship, with breakfast provision described for younger year groups. Parents should confirm availability, age range, and booking process for their child’s specific year group, especially as the school expands into older years.

Term dates are published through the school’s term dates and calendar hub (with documents for 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027 listed).

Transport-wise, Avanti Brook is positioned within the Bishop’s Stortford North development area, and families should consider the practicalities of peak-time access, walking routes, and parking arrangements during tours, particularly as nearby housing builds out and year groups expand.

• New school, evolving offer. A young school can be dynamic and responsive, but some routines, traditions, and breadth of clubs are still developing as year groups are added each year.

• Oversubscription pressure. Demand indicators point to more applications than places for Reception, so admission can be the main constraint even for families who strongly align with the ethos.

• Limited published outcomes so far. With no established Key Stage 2 results profile yet, parents need to rely more on curriculum detail, teaching approach, and operational quality than on headline attainment data.

• Pre-School cost information. The school has nursery provision, but families should use the official Pre-School information and funding guidance for current early years pricing and entitlements rather than expecting this to mirror Reception funding or school-day structures.

Avanti Brook Primary School is a modern, growing state school with a strong values-led identity and a clear emphasis on wellbeing practices alongside academic intent. It will suit families in and around Bishop’s Stortford North who want a new-school environment, are comfortable with an offer that will mature year by year, and value the Avanti Schools Trust ethos.

The biggest practical hurdle is getting a place, particularly for Reception entry in oversubscribed years, and families should plan early, attend open events, and keep an eye on Hertfordshire’s coordinated admissions deadlines.