School Chooser

Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre

Nursery · ages 2-5MixedLocal authority nursery school129 pupilsLondonHackney
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWe don't score this type of school.
OfstedOutstandingConfirmed by Ofsted, June 2024
Pupils from low-income families20%A bit fewer than most schools
Pupils per teacher18.8School workforce census
Pupils on roll129Census January 2026

Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre is a local authority nursery school in London for boys and girls aged 2 to 5. It has 129 pupils. About 20 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.

20 Halcomb Street, Hoxton, Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre, London, N1 5RF020 7749 9850cometnurseryandcc.co.uk/websiteMs Lisa Clarke headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

A shorter visit on 4 June 2024 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Outstanding overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

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 Hackney council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll129Census January 2026
Pupils from low-income families51%20% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English57%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support28%36 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan1%1 pupil with a plan
Boys and girls81 / 48
White British pupils16%

Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) with 23 pupils, for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment.

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 Hackney with autism provision.

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (30), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), Physical disability (2), Multi-sensory impairment (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll129115115121119119
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals51%50%61%44%40%23%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language57%62%58%61%56%51%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support–26%31%31%19%18%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans–4%4%3%3%5%

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers5.0full-time equivalent, 5 people
Pupils per teacher18.8Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants5.9full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£62,357
Teachers who left in the year25%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher0.22024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£16,198England £7,738. Total £1.2m
Income per pupil£16,647England £7,697. Total £1.2m
Spent on teachers per pupil£4,791England £3,480
Money in reserve8%Not much put by: £96k, £1,291 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£33kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£16,198spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m2,20612 months to June 2026, mostly anti-social behaviour
Local crime rate113 per 1,000 people24% higher than the England average
Typical house price£592,000Hackney
Nearest bus stop250 mLaburnum Street, 14 stops within 500 m

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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Hoxton Garden PrimaryCouncil250 m344Not inspected96Compare
Waterside AcademyFree school370 m351Report card 202679Compare
Rosemary Works SchoolIndependent380 m52Not inspected–Compare
Shoreditch Park Primary SchoolCouncil390 m441Outstanding 202486Compare
Hackney New Primary SchoolFree school390 m344Not inspected86Compare
The Bridge AcademyAcademy530 m1,070Good 202384Compare
St John the Baptist Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary SchoolChurch of England630 m239Outstanding 202385Compare
Queensbridge Primary SchoolCouncil700 m398Outstanding 202388Compare
All schools in HackneyAll schools in LondonBest primary schools in England

Questions parents ask

Is Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre a good school?

Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in June 2024.

What is Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre outstanding at its last full inspection on 4 June 2024.

How many pupils does Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre have?

129 pupils aged 2 to 5 were on the roll in January 2026.

Does Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre have specialist SEND provision?

Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment. 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
20 Halcomb Street, Hoxton, Comet Nursery School and Children's Centre, London, N1 5RF
Telephone
020 7749 9850
Website
www.cometnurseryandcc.co.uk/website
Headteacher
Ms Lisa Clarke
Type of school
Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Nursery school, ages 2-5
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Hackney
Ward
Hoxton East & Shoreditch
Constituency
Hackney South and Shoreditch
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
100213 · LAESTAB 2041051
Official recordOfsted reportsGovernment performance tablesDownload this school's data (CSV)

Where these figures come from