St Margaret's Infant School
St Margaret's Infant School is a converter academy in Gillingham for boys and girls aged 3 to 7. It has 312 pupils, 42 more than it has places for. About 12 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England.
St Margaret's Infant School, Orchard Street, Orchard Street, Rainham, Gillingham, ME8 9AE01634 231327stmargaretsinf.medway.sch.ukMrs Paula Fewtrell headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. 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 Medway council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (35), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (3), Hearing impairment (2), emotional and mental health (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 312 | 299 | 303 | 300 | 293 | 308 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 11% | 14% | 11% | 10% | 11% | 10% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 16% | 12% | 8% | 6% | 8% | 9% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 13% | 15% | 16% | 15% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.4% 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 | 4.6% | 5.4% | 6.0% | 6.5% | 2.8% | 3.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.5% | 4.0% | 4.8% | 5.7% | 2.4% | 2.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 11.6% | 15.2% | 15.5% | 22.1% | 4.5% | 6.5% | 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 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 | 0 m | 363 | Good 2023 | 50 | Compare |
| Miers Court Primary School | Academy | 630 m | 417 | Good 2021 | 25 | Compare |
| Thames View Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 459 | Good 2023 | 71 | Compare |
| Riverside Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 453 | Good 2019 | 44 | Compare |
| Parkwood Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 476 | Requires improvement 2023 | 1 | Compare |
| St Thomas of Canterbury RC Primary School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 237 | Good 2023 | 72 | Compare |
| Twydall Primary School and Nursery | Academy | 1.2 miles | 245 | Good 2023 | 14 | Compare |
| Fairview Community Primary School | Council | 1.2 miles | 670 | Not inspected | 81 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Margaret's Infant School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score St Margaret's Infant School yet.
How many pupils does St Margaret's Infant School have?
312 pupils aged 3 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 116% full.
Is St Margaret's Infant School oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at St Margaret's Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.4% 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 St Margaret's Infant School?
The average class had 26.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 9% of classes 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
- St Margaret's Infant School, Orchard Street, Orchard Street, Rainham, Gillingham, ME8 9AE
- Telephone
- 01634 231327
- Website
- www.stmargaretsinf.medway.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Paula Fewtrell
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- The Westbrook Trust (4 schools)
- Local authority
- Medway
- Ward
- Rainham South West
- Constituency
- Gillingham and Rainham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2017 (academy converter)
- URN
- 144133 · LAESTAB 8872479 · UKPRN 10063037
- Formerly
- St Margaret's 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.