Stourfield Infant School

About Stourfield Infant School

Stourfield Infant School sits within the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority, a large unitary area with 66 primary schools. Among its local peers, the school is positioned behind St. Walburga's Catholic Primary School, Winton Primary School, and Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, which rank as the top three in the area. Stourfield is a state-funded, mixed-gender infant school for children aged 5 to 7, with no religious character. It currently has 221 pupils on roll against a capacity of 360, meaning there is room for growth. The school is led by headteacher Pauline Sweetman and is not a boarding school, nor does it offer nursery provision or a sixth form. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in February 2024, awarded the school a Good rating across all categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This marks a notable improvement from its previous inspection in October 2021, when the school was rated Requires Improvement.

Academically, Stourfield Infant School does not publish Key Stage 2 results, as it only caters for children up to Year 2, so direct comparisons with the local authority average of 63 per cent for KS2 attainment are not applicable. However, the Ofsted report from 2024 provides a clear picture of progress. The school received a Good rating for quality of education, with inspectors noting that pupils achieve well across the curriculum. Behaviour and attitudes were also rated Good, and the early years provision, which had previously been rated Requires Improvement, has now been upgraded to Good. The school’s leadership and management were similarly rated Good, reflecting a consistent upward trajectory. For parents considering infant-phase education, the absence of KS2 data is standard for this age range, and the focus should instead be on the strong Ofsted outcomes and the school’s ability to improve from its previous inspection.

Stourfield Infant School offers a range of facilities including a library, playing fields, sports hall, sensory room, music rooms, outdoor playground, dining hall, and a chapel. Sports on offer include rounders, netball, cross country, gymnastics, athletics, and football, while clubs extend to coding, chess, drama, eco club, and book club. The school has a dedicated SEND provision covering social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Admissions for the 2025/26 year show the school is oversubscribed, with 139 applications for 59 places, an oversubscription ratio of 2.36. Of those, 50 were first-preference offers, meaning competition is significant. This school will suit families who value a strong improvement story, a broad range of extracurricular activities, and a supportive environment for children with additional needs, though they should be prepared for a competitive admissions process.

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