Featherby Infant and Nursery School

Featherby Infant and Nursery School is a strongly inclusive school where pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils, are well supported to access the full curriculum. Safeguarding standards are met. Inclusion is judged strong, while achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, leadership and governance, and personal development are all at expected standard. The school has a clear reading focus, precise phonics teaching, and a love of reading is evident across the school; most pupils become confident readers by the end of Year 2. Early years provision is warm and language-rich, with well-established routines and strong foundations in reading, writing and mathematics. Attendance has improved and now matches national figures for most pupils, and pupils behave well in a calm, nurturing environment.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture with swift identification of needs and strong external partnerships.
• Clear, structured processes and 'pupil passports' build accurate understanding of pupils' needs.
• Pupils with SEND access the full curriculum and benefit from tailored provision such as 'The Nest and Fledglings'.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from strategic use of pupil premium funding, especially for language development.
• Strong pastoral provision and targeted interventions create a calm, purposeful learning environment.
• Phonics outcomes at the end of Year 1 are in line with national averages.
• A love of reading is evident, and most pupils become confident readers by the end of Year 2.
• Attendance has improved and now matches national figures for most pupils.
• Positive relationships and a kind, supportive ethos mean bullying and unkindness are dealt with swiftly.
• An ambitious and coherent curriculum begins in the early years and is supported by high expectations.
• Phonics teaching is precise and consistent from Nursery Year onwards.
• Staff model high-quality language and structure discussions to develop pupils' vocabulary.
• Early years provision features trusting relationships, a language-rich environment, and strong foundations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Leaders have a clear vision, prioritise inclusion, and provide relevant professional development.
• Governance is strategic and robust, holding leaders to account effectively.
• Personal development is well planned, helping pupils build confidence, manage feelings, and form positive relationships.

Areas for Improvement

• In some areas of the curriculum, pupils struggle to remember what they have learned over time.
• Activities in the wider curriculum are sometimes not sufficiently well designed to help pupils learn as well as they could.
• At times, some staff do not check pupils' understanding of key concepts or intervene quickly enough to close gaps.
• Feedback precision in the early years can sometimes vary.
• Leaders should further develop systems to ensure the curriculum is implemented in line with their intentions so pupils build secure knowledge cumulatively across the full breadth of the curriculum.
• Leaders should strengthen staff expertise in making accurate assessments to deliver precise and targeted feedback in foundational skills.

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 Featherby Infant and Nursery School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.8% 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 Featherby Infant and Nursery 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 Featherby Infant and Nursery School had 14.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.0% 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, 20.9% of pupils at Featherby Infant and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.6% 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 2023–24 Featherby Infant and Nursery School received £12,867 and spent £12,789 for each of its 291 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £446,000 (£1,531 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Maritime Academy Trust, income was £9,245 and spending £9,048 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 Gillingham · Medway local authority: places and applications

Featherby Infant and Nursery School is part of Maritime Academy Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Featherby Junior School Gillingham
• Danecourt School Gillingham
• Barnsole Primary School Gillingham
• Bligh Primary School (Juniors) Rochester
• Bligh Primary School (Infants) Rochester
• Ebbsfleet Green Primary School Swanscombe
• Hook Lane Primary School Welling
• Timbercroft Primary School London
• Greenacres Primary School and Language Impairment Unit London
• Nightingale Primary School London

What is Featherby Infant and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Featherby Infant and Nursery School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Featherby Infant and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

Featherby Infant and Nursery School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Featherby Infant and Nursery School have?

Featherby Infant and Nursery School has 282 pupils on roll.

What age range does Featherby Infant and Nursery School cover?

Featherby Infant and Nursery School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Featherby Infant and Nursery School?

Featherby Infant and Nursery School is at Allington Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 6PD.