King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant)

King’s Academy Northern Parade (Infant) is a caring and supportive school where pupils behave well, learn in calm classrooms and benefit from strong relationships. This graded inspection found good provision across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years; no overall effectiveness grade was given because schools inspected from September 2024 are not awarded one. The school has improved considerably over the last two years after previous poor national test results in reading, writing and mathematics, and leaders, trust leaders and governors are determined for all pupils to achieve well. Staff feel appreciated and well trained, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Strengths include a broad curriculum, a strong focus on reading and highly effective support for weaker readers, including pupils with SEND. Pupils enjoy enriching trips and clubs and learn age-appropriately about safety, healthy relationships, consent and money. However, in a few subjects the essential knowledge and its sequencing are not precise enough, and teachers’ subject knowledge is not consistently strong, so some tasks do not deepen pupils’ understanding. Early years communication and language strategies are not always used effectively, and some subject content is covered too broadly rather than in sufficient depth.

Strengths

• Caring and supportive school with strong relationships and minimal disruption
• Pupils behave well and follow clear routines from the start of early years
• Broad curriculum with precisely identified knowledge in many subjects
• Reading is a real priority with a well-sequenced programme
• High-quality interventions help weaker readers catch up quickly
• Effective support for pupils with SEND through bespoke strategies and adaptations
• Strong personal development covering safety, healthy relationships, consent and money
• Enriching trips and clubs develop pupils’ interests and cultural understanding
• Effective systems monitor and address attendance concerns swiftly
• Leaders, trust leaders and governors are determined and have transformed the school culture
• Staff feel appreciated and benefit from comprehensive training
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, important knowledge and the order in which it is taught are not identified precisely enough
• Curriculum gaps sometimes develop because teachers do not know what pupils need to understand before moving on
• Teachers’ subject knowledge is not consistently strong enough to deepen pupils’ understanding
• Some tasks do not give pupils sufficient opportunity to secure knowledge across the curriculum
• Some early years staff do not routinely use the most effective communication and language strategies
• In some subjects, pupils cover too many aspects of a topic rather than learning fewer aspects in depth

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 King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.8% 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, 2.0% of pupils at King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) 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 King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) had 22.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.3% 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, 9.1% of pupils at King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.6% 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 2024–25 King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) received £6,858 and spent £6,768 for each of its 245 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £413,000 (£1,685 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of King'S Group Academies, income was £7,817 and spending £7,798 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.

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

King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) is part of King'S Group Academies, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• King's Academy Northern Parade (Junior) Portsmouth
• King's Academy College Park (Junior) Portsmouth
• King's Academy College Park (Infant) Portsmouth
• King's Academy Brune Park Gosport
• King's Academy Rowner Gosport
• King's Academy Gomer Gosport
• King's Academy Bay House Gosport
• King's Academy Lord Wilson Southampton
• King's Academy Easthampstead Park Bracknell
• King's Academy Oakwood Bracknell

What is King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant)'s Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) last inspected by Ofsted?

King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) have?

King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) has 231 pupils on roll.

What age range does King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) cover?

King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) for pupils aged 4 to 7.

Where is King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant)?

King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) is at Kipling Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO2 9NJ.