Shirley Infant School

Shirley Infant School is a caring, welcoming and inclusive school where pupils feel safe and thrive in a nurturing environment. Inspectors found strong provision across the curriculum, with an ambitious and well-structured offer, effective use of trust support for staff development, and good support for pupils with SEND. Reading is central to the school’s work, behaviour expectations are high, and personal development and pastoral support are thoughtfully planned. The school’s main areas for improvement are in lesson-level assessment and early years communication. Staff do not consistently check that pupils have understood learning during lessons, which can leave some pupils with gaps in knowledge. In the early years, adults do not always deepen children’s learning through targeted conversations, so communication and vocabulary development are not always as strong as leaders expect. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an infant school and part of the Hamwic Education Trust, with leaders, governors and the trust working closely together. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Caring, welcoming and inclusive school culture
• Ambitious and well-structured curriculum
• Pupils achieve well and recall learning enthusiastically
• Strong trust-supported professional development for staff
• Effective support for pupils with SEND
• Reading and phonics are central and well taught
• Thoughtful personal development and enrichment programme
• Strong pastoral support for pupils’ thoughts and feelings
• High behaviour expectations with positive relationships
• Pupils feel safe and confident talking to adults
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Staff do not consistently check pupils’ understanding during lessons, leading to gaps in knowledge
• Early years adults do not always deepen children’s communication and vocabulary through targeted conversations

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 Shirley Infant School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.9% 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, 0.8% of pupils at Shirley 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 Shirley Infant School had 20.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.2% 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, 7.9% of pupils at Shirley Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 2024–25 Shirley Infant School received £6,304 and spent £6,129 for each of its 264 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £196,000 (£741 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Hamwic Education Trust, income was £7,058 and spending £7,015 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Southampton · Southampton local authority: places and applications

Shirley Infant School is part of Hamwic Education Trust, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Shirley Junior School Southampton
• Upper Shirley High School Southampton
• Wordsworth Primary and Nursery School Southampton
• Hollybrook Junior School Southampton
• Hollybrook Infant School Southampton
• Beechwood Junior School Southampton
• Glenfield Infant School Southampton
• Ludlow Infant Academy Southampton
• Townhill Infant School Southampton
• Woolston Infant School Southampton

What is Shirley Infant School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Shirley Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Shirley Infant School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Shirley Infant School have?

Shirley Infant School has 266 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shirley Infant School cover?

Shirley Infant School for pupils aged 4 to 7.

Where is Shirley Infant School?

Shirley Infant School is at Wilton Road, Southampton, SO15 5LA.