Meon Infant School
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Meon Infant School is a converter academy in Southsea for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 133 pupils and room for 180. About 34 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit more than at most schools. We give it 52 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 72% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Shelford Road, Milton, Southsea, PO4 8NT0333 360 2170meonwayfederation.org.ukMrs Sara Paine headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 8 July 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 20 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 11% 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 Portsmouth 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 (15), Moderate learning difficulty (3), emotional and mental health (2), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 133 | 158 | 171 | 177 | 180 | 178 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 34% | 30% | 27% | 19% | 19% | 19% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 10% | 10% | 9% | 7% | 11% | 12% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 20% | 4% | 7% | 4% | 5% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.5% 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 | 4.5% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.9% | 2.7% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.7% | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4.1% | 2.1% | 2.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 8.9% | 8.1% | 4.1% | 6.6% | 5.8% | 5.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meon Junior School | Academy | 0 m | 336 | Report card 2025 | 31 | Compare |
| Milton Park Primary School | Academy | 390 m | 382 | Good 2024 | 33 | Compare |
| Wimborne Primary School | Council | 670 m | 557 | Good 2023 | 27 | Compare |
| Moorings Way Infant School | Academy | 730 m | 116 | Report card 2026 | 54 | Compare |
| Cumberland Infant School | Council | 960 m | 172 | Good 2022 | 65 | Compare |
| Fernhurst Junior School | Council | 0.7 miles | 349 | Good 2023 | 32 | Compare |
| Devonshire Infant School | Council | 0.7 miles | 171 | Report card 2026 | 13 | Compare |
| Langstone Primary Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 620 | Good 2021 | 39 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Meon 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 52 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 52% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 25 to 77. 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 | +0.03 | Ofsted grade, 1.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.11 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.09 | 2024/25; 123 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 Meon Infant School a good school?
It is about average. Meon Infant School scores 52 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 72% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 25 to 77, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Meon Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Meon Infant School not judged at its last full inspection on 8 July 2025.
How many pupils does Meon Infant School have?
133 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 180 places, so it is 74% full.
Is Meon Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 20 places were empty in 2024/25 (11% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Meon Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.5% 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 Meon Infant 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
- Shelford Road, Milton, Southsea, PO4 8NT
- Telephone
- 0333 360 2170
- Website
- www.meonwayfederation.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sara Paine
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- The Thinking Schools Academy Trust (26 schools)
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Ward
- Milton
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2018 (academy converter)
- URN
- 146135 · LAESTAB 8512654 · UKPRN 10080941
- Formerly
- Meon 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.
- 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.