The Oaks Infant School

The Oaks Infant School is a warm, inclusive and ambitious school where pupils thrive. It is a larger-than-average infant school with a specially resourced provision for pupils with speech, language and communication needs, and it is part of the Our Community Multi Academy Trust. This full inspection found the school to be strong in most areas, with excellent behaviour, high attendance and an outstanding early years provision that gives children the best possible start.

Strengths

• Excellent behaviour across the school, with calm and purposeful lessons
• High attendance, including for pupils with SEND, and a rapid reduction in persistent absence
• Outstanding early years provision where children make rapid progress in language, phonics and mathematics
• Highly inclusive school that meets the needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND effectively
• Strong leadership and governance with a clear moral purpose and rigorous challenge
• Rich personal development programme that prepares pupils well for life beyond school
• Positive partnerships with parents and strong staff wellbeing

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not consistently apply early writing skills with the same precision in foundation subjects as they do in English
• Pupils lack regular opportunities to engage in meaningful discussion to practise using subject-specific vocabulary fluently

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 The Oaks Infant School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.7% 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, 0.3% of pupils at The Oaks 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 The Oaks Infant School had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 2.6% 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, 13.5% of pupils at The Oaks Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 7 pupils.

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 The Oaks Infant School received £7,505 and spent £7,536 for each of its 295 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £6,000 (-£19 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of Our Community Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,845 and spending £7,701 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 Sittingbourne · Kent local authority: places and applications

The Oaks Infant School is part of Our Community Multi Academy Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Minterne Junior School Sittingbourne
• Borden Church of England Primary School Sittingbourne
• Bredgar Church of England Primary School Sittingbourne
• Milstead and Frinsted Church of England Primary School Sittingbourne
• Lynsted and Norton Primary School Sittingbourne
• Selling Church of England Primary School Faversham
• Petham Primary School Canterbury
• Dymchurch Primary School Romney Marsh
• Lydd Primary School Romney Marsh

What is The Oaks Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Oaks Infant School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was The Oaks Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Oaks Infant School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does The Oaks Infant School have?

The Oaks Infant School has 312 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Oaks Infant School cover?

The Oaks Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is The Oaks Infant School?

The Oaks Infant School is at Gore Court Road, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 1GL.