St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School
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St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School is a converter academy in Bideford for boys and girls aged 3 to 7. It has 110 pupils and room for 157. About 22 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 43 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 48% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in November 2025 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Jackets Lane, Northam, Bideford, EX39 1HT01237 477262northamfederation.devon.sch.ukAngela Fernyhough executive head teacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 25 November 2025. 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.
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.
110 places were empty (52% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (37 offers for 45 places).
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 30 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for primary schools with enough answers to publish.
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 (10), language and communications needs (10), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (4), emotional and mental health (4), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 110 | 100 | 134 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 20% | 16% | 16% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 5% | 2% | 3% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 16% | 19% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 11% | 5% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.7% 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 | 5.3% | 6.6% | 7.0% | 6.4% | 2.9% | 3.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.9% | 5.2% | 6.0% | 5.8% | 2.5% | 3.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 13.7% | 12.2% | 20.7% | 16.5% | 2.9% | 4.8% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 4.0 | 14.9 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for St George's Church of England (VA) Infant and Nursery School, the school this one replaced in October 2023. 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Margaret's Church of England Junior School | Academy | 160 m | 184 | Requires improvement 2020 | 2 | Compare |
| Appledore School | Foundation | 0.9 miles | 244 | Good 2023 | 83 | Compare |
| St Mary's CofE Primary School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 397 | Good 2023 | 34 | Compare |
| West Croft School | Council | 2.2 miles | 417 | Good 2022 | 4 | Compare |
| East-the-Water Community Primary School | Council | 2.3 miles | 439 | Good 2023 | 67 | Compare |
| Instow Community Primary and Pre-School | Foundation | 2.3 miles | 136 | Good 2023 | 62 | Compare |
| St Helen's Church of England School | Academy | 2.4 miles | 204 | Good 2022 | 52 | Compare |
| Fremington Primary School | Academy | 4.2 miles | 309 | No overall grade 2025 | 4 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School with the 48 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 48 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 43 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 43% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 19 to 72. 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% | below | -0.19 | Ofsted report card, 0.8 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | -0.02 | 2024/25; 73 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 5% | above | +0.12 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 30 responses |
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 St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School a good school?
It is about average. St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School scores 43 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 48% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 19 to 72, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 25 November 2025 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School have?
110 pupils aged 3 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 157 places, so it is 70% full.
Is St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 110 places were empty in 2024/25 (52% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School?
Pupils were in school 94.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 14% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School?
100% of the 30 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 97% say their child is happy there. Across England, 87% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at St George's CofE Infant and Nursery School?
The average class had 17.7 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
- Jackets Lane, Northam, Bideford, EX39 1HT
- Telephone
- 01237 477262
- Website
- www.northamfederation.devon.sch.uk
- Executive Head Teacher
- Angela Fernyhough
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Exeter
- Multi-academy trust
- The Harbour Schools Partnership (36 schools)
- Local authority
- Devon
- Ward
- Appledore
- Constituency
- Torridge and Tavistock
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 October 2023 (academy converter)
- URN
- 150076 · LAESTAB 8783461 · UKPRN 10093005
- Formerly
- St George's Church of England (VA) Infant and Nursery 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.
- Admissions outcomes: Devon council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- 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.