Cupernham Infant School

Cupernham Infant School is a welcoming, friendly community infant school where pupils feel happy and safe, relationships with adults are strong, and parents value the nurturing ethos. Inspectors judged the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision all to be good. The school has an ambitious curriculum from the early years, expert early reading teaching, effective SEND support, high behavioural expectations and a personal development offer seen as a strength. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, governors carry out statutory duties well, and staff morale is high. The main area for improvement is assessment beyond reading: in some subjects, teachers do not check well enough what pupils know and remember, and subsequent learning does not consistently take account of prior knowledge. This means some pupils do not build knowledge as well over time and progress through the curriculum can slow. Leaders need to ensure teachers check pupils’ knowledge and use it to inform future learning across all subjects. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and was a graded inspection under the September 2024 framework, so no overall effectiveness grade was given. The previous inspection grade was good.

Strengths

• Welcoming, friendly school where pupils feel happy and safe
• Strong relationships between adults and pupils, including those with SEND
• Nurturing ethos valued by parents and carers
• Ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils
• Strong start in Reception with good language development and preparation for the next stage
• Expert early reading teaching with rigorous phonics and matched reading books
• Carefully planned interventions help pupils keep up in reading
• Strong teacher subject knowledge and engaging learning activities
• Effective systems identify SEND needs and precise plans help pupils achieve well
• High expectations for behaviour with calm classes and no disruption to learning
• Personal development is a strength, with values threaded through school life
• Wide range of clubs and experiences that develop pupils’ understanding of diversity
• Governors carry out statutory duties effectively and hold the school to account
• Staff feel proud to work at the school and value training; staff morale is high
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment systems are not fully in place beyond reading to check what pupils have remembered over time
• In some subjects, teachers do not use prior knowledge well enough, so some pupils’ progress through the curriculum slows

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Cupernham Infant School attended 95.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Cupernham Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Cupernham Infant School had 24.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 4.9% of pupils at Cupernham Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Cupernham Infant School received £6,391 and spent £6,816 for each of its 246 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £144,000 (-£585 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Romsey · Hampshire local authority: places and applications

What is Cupernham Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cupernham Infant School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Cupernham Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cupernham Infant School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Cupernham Infant School have?

Cupernham Infant School has 246 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cupernham Infant School cover?

Cupernham Infant School for pupils aged 4 to 7.

Where is Cupernham Infant School?

Cupernham Infant School is at Bransley Close, Woodley Lane, Romsey, Hampshire, SO51 7JT.