Polehampton Church of England Infant School
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Polehampton Church of England Infant School is a converter academy in Reading for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 148 pupils and room for 180. About 1 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 40 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 18% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Hermitage Drive, Twyford, Reading, RG10 9HS0118 934 0246polehampton.org.ukMr Philip Sherwood headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 21 November 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
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.
About 15 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 7% 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 Wokingham 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: emotional and mental health (2), Specific learning difficulty (2), language and communications needs (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 148 | 166 | 176 | 178 | 177 | 172 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 1% | 2% | 3% | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 17% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 4% | 4% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 2% | 6% | 13% | 14% | 7% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.7% 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 | 4.3% | 3.8% | 4.2% | 3.8% | 1.6% | 3.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.3% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 3.3% | 1.3% | 2.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.0% | 1.1% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.7% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 11.7% | 5.8% | 8.2% | 3.3% | 2.6% | 4.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 13.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Polehampton Church of England Infant School, the school this one replaced in September 2020. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polehampton Church of England Junior School | Academy | 420 m | 232 | No overall grade 2024 | 77 | Compare |
| The Colleton Primary School | Council | 990 m | 293 | Good 2023 | 35 | Compare |
| The Piggott School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 1,945 | Good 2023 | 87 | Compare |
| Robert Piggott CofE Junior School | Academy | 1.3 miles | – | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Robert Piggott CofE Infant School | Academy | 1.3 miles | – | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
| St Nicholas Church of England Primary, Hurst | Academy | 1.8 miles | 138 | Good 2023 | 84 | Compare |
| Willow Bank Infant School | Academy | 1.8 miles | 152 | Good 2022 | – | Compare |
| Willow Bank Junior School | Academy | 1.8 miles | 235 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Polehampton Church of England Infant 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.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 45 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Polehampton Church of England Infant School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Road School | Council | 4.3 miles | 165 | Good 2022 | 95 | Compare |
| Finchampstead CofE VA Primary School | Church of England | 8.1 miles | 108 | No overall grade 2025 | 73 | Compare |
| RAF Benson Community Primary School | Council | 13.2 miles | 123 | Good 2024 | 90 | Compare |
| Southwood Infant School | Council | 13.4 miles | 119 | Good 2023 | 53 | Compare |
| Curzon Church of England Combined School | Academy | 15.1 miles | 162 | Not inspected | 88 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 40 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 40% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 18 to 68. 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, 2.8 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well below | -0.27 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.12 | 2024/25; 120 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 Polehampton Church of England Infant School a good school?
It is about average. Polehampton Church of England Infant School scores 40 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 18% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 18 to 68, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Polehampton Church of England Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Polehampton Church of England Infant School good at its last full inspection on 21 November 2023.
How many pupils does Polehampton Church of England Infant School have?
148 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 180 places, so it is 82% full.
Is Polehampton Church of England Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 15 places were empty in 2024/25 (8% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Polehampton Church of England Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 12% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Polehampton Church of England Infant School?
The average class had 24.7 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
- Hermitage Drive, Twyford, Reading, RG10 9HS
- Telephone
- 0118 934 0246
- Website
- www.polehampton.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Philip Sherwood
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Oxford
- Multi-academy trust
- The Keys Academy Trust (13 schools)
- Local authority
- Wokingham
- Ward
- Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst
- Constituency
- Wokingham
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2020 (academy converter)
- URN
- 147556 · LAESTAB 8723046 · UKPRN 10085808
- Formerly
- Polehampton Church of England 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.