Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School
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Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School is a Church of England school (voluntary controlled) in Herne Bay for boys and girls aged 3 to 7. It has 318 pupils, 48 more than it has places for. About 14 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 24 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 9% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Palmer Close, Herne, Herne Bay, CT6 7AH01227 740793herne-infant.kent.sch.ukMrs E Thomas-Friend headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 6 May 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2021 | S5 Inspection | Outstanding |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
The school is full, with 2 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. 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 Kent 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: Autistic spectrum disorder (21), Other difficulty or disability (9), emotional and mental health (7), Moderate learning difficulty (6), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (5), language and communications needs (5).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 318 | 308 | 307 | 316 | 313 | 306 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 12% | 10% | 7% | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 2% | 2% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 4% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 10% | 12% | 8% | 11% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 3% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.5% 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 | 5.5% | 4.9% | 4.5% | 5.0% | 1.8% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.6% | 3.0% | 3.6% | 4.3% | 1.6% | 2.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.9% | 1.8% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 13.8% | 6.1% | 7.7% | 7.1% | 2.2% | 4.4% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| 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 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.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herne Church of England Junior School | Church of England | 240 m | 375 | Outstanding 2023 | 97 | Compare |
| Herne Bay Infant School | Council | 1.3 miles | 259 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Herne Bay Junior School | Foundation | 1.3 miles | 371 | No overall grade 2025 | 2 | Compare |
| Hoath Primary School | Council | 1.5 miles | 106 | Report card 2026 | 61 | Compare |
| Thornden Wood Primary School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 337 | Good 2024 | 70 | Compare |
| Hampton Primary School | Academy | 1.8 miles | 679 | No overall grade 2024 | 14 | Compare |
| Reculver Church of England Primary School | Academy | 2.0 miles | 444 | Not inspected | 38 | Compare |
| Water Meadows Primary School | Academy | 2.5 miles | 188 | Not inspected | 57 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School with the 45 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 45 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 24 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 24% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 10 to 50. 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% | in line | +0.06 | Ofsted report card, 0.4 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well below | -0.38 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | -0.02 | 2024/25; 181 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 Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School a good school?
The figures are weak. Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School scores 24 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 9% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 10 to 50, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 6 May 2026 it rated teaching as strong, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School have?
318 pupils aged 3 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 118% full.
Is Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School oversubscribed?
Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 2 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.
What is attendance like at Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School?
Pupils were in school 94.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 14% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School?
The average class had 26.6 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
- Palmer Close, Herne, Herne Bay, CT6 7AH
- Telephone
- 01227 740793
- Website
- www.herne-infant.kent.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs E Thomas-Friend
- Type of school
- Church of England school (voluntary controlled) (Voluntary controlled school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Canterbury
- Local authority
- Kent
- Ward
- Herne & Broomfield
- Constituency
- Herne Bay and Sandwich
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 118710 · LAESTAB 8863295 · UKPRN 10079667
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, consistent financial reporting 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.