Canford Heath Infant School
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Canford Heath Infant School is a converter academy in Poole for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 367 pupils, 7 more than it has places for. About 9 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 98 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 96% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2023.
Learoyd Road, Canford Heath, Poole, BH17 8PJ01202 380015chis.poole.sch.ukMrs Laurin Palmer executive headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 21 March 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 41 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.
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.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) with 5 pupils, for speech, language and communication.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole with speech, language and communication provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (38), emotional and mental health (13), Specific learning difficulty (11), Autistic spectrum disorder (5), Physical disability (3), Hearing impairment (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 367 | 358 | 359 | 359 | 358 | 359 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 9% | 11% | 16% | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 8% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 8% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 12% | 15% | 13% | 18% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 4% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.0% 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 | 4.0% | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.6% | 2.9% | 3.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.9% | 4.6% | 2.2% | 2.6% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.8% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 1.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 7.7% | 10.7% | 13.0% | 12.4% | 4.9% | 4.1% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.8 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | – |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canford Heath Junior School | Academy | 60 m | 489 | Good 2023 | 70 | Compare |
| Stanley Green Infant Academy | Academy | 810 m | 213 | Good 2023 | 44 | Compare |
| Haymoor Junior School | Academy | 980 m | 349 | Good 2023 | 45 | Compare |
| Ad Astra Infant School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 257 | Report card 2026 | 43 | Compare |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole | Academy | 0.8 miles | 379 | Not inspected | 56 | Compare |
| Oakdale Junior School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 376 | No overall grade 2025 | 23 | Compare |
| Ocean Academy Poole | Academy | 0.9 miles | 325 | Good 2024 | 66 | Compare |
| Longfleet Church of England Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 627 | Not inspected | 44 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Canford Heath 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.
No school with a similar mix of pupils within 25 km scores clearly higher.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 98 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 98% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 94 to 100. 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 | 19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | well above | +0.98 | Ofsted grade, 3.5 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | 0.00 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.19 | 2024/25; 248 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 Canford Heath Infant School a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Canford Heath Infant School scores 98 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 96% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 94 to 100, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Canford Heath Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Canford Heath Infant School outstanding at its last full inspection on 21 March 2023.
How many pupils does Canford Heath Infant School have?
367 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 360 places, so it is 102% full.
Is Canford Heath Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 41 places were empty in 2024/25 (10% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Canford Heath Infant School?
Pupils were in school 96.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 8% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Canford Heath Infant School?
The average class had 29.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Canford Heath Infant School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) for speech, language and communication. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Learoyd Road, Canford Heath, Poole, BH17 8PJ
- Telephone
- 01202 380015
- Website
- www.chis.poole.sch.uk
- Executive Headteacher
- Mrs Laurin Palmer
- 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
- 141762 · LAESTAB 8392178 · UKPRN 10049126
- Formerly
- Canford Heath 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.