Ad Astra Infant School
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Ad Astra Infant School is a converter academy in Poole for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 257 pupils and room for 270. About 17 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 43 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 43% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in April 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Sherborn Crescent, Canford Heath, Poole, BH17 8AP01202 602113adastra.poole.sch.ukMrs Emma Walters executive 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.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 14 December 2023 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 16 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 6% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (31), Autistic spectrum disorder (9), emotional and mental health (8), Specific learning difficulty (7), Hearing impairment (3), Physical disability (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 257 | 253 | 258 | 266 | 270 | 267 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 17% | 21% | 24% | 22% | 23% | 21% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 13% | 13% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 4% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 19% | 20% | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 5% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 4.8% | 5.6% | 6.3% | 6.6% | 3.6% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.3% | 3.9% | 4.4% | 5.1% | 2.4% | 2.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 8.8% | 17.2% | 19.0% | 19.7% | 10.3% | 7.6% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.8 | 6.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haymoor Junior School | Academy | 300 m | 349 | Good 2023 | 45 | Compare |
| Canford Heath Infant School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 367 | Outstanding 2023 | 98 | Compare |
| Canford Heath Junior School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 489 | Good 2023 | 70 | Compare |
| Hillbourne Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 204 | No overall grade 2025 | 71 | Compare |
| Stanley Green Infant Academy | Academy | 1.3 miles | 213 | Good 2023 | 44 | Compare |
| Broadstone Middle School | Academy | 1.3 miles | 542 | Good 2019 | 23 | Compare |
| Livingstone Road Junior School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 204 | Report card 2026 | 8 | Compare |
| Livingstone Road Infant School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 199 | Report card 2026 | 8 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Ad Astra Infant School with the 47 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 43 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 43% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 20 to 71. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | below | -0.17 | Ofsted report card, 0.4 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | -0.02 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.11 | 2024/25; 171 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Ad Astra Infant School a good school?
It is about average. Ad Astra Infant School scores 43 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 43% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 20 to 71, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Ad Astra Infant 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 as expected.
How many pupils does Ad Astra Infant School have?
257 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 95% full.
Is Ad Astra Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 16 places were empty in 2024/25 (6% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Ad Astra Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 9% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Ad Astra Infant School?
The average class had 28.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Sherborn Crescent, Canford Heath, Poole, BH17 8AP
- Telephone
- 01202 602113
- Website
- www.adastra.poole.sch.uk
- Executive Headteacher
- Mrs Emma Walters
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Teach Poole (4 schools)
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Ward
- Canford Heath
- Constituency
- Mid Dorset and North Poole
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2015 (academy converter)
- URN
- 141755 · LAESTAB 8392251 · UKPRN 10049309
- Formerly
- Ad Astra Infant School
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.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 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.