The FMS Inspection Score is FindMySchool's proprietary analysis based on official Ofsted and ISI inspection reports. It converts ratings into a standardised 1–10 scale for fair comparison across all schools in England.
Disclaimer: The FMS Inspection Score is an independent analysis by FindMySchool. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with Ofsted or ISI. Always refer to the official Ofsted or ISI report for the full picture of a school’s inspection outcome.
For families in and around Lee-on-the-Solent, this is the kind of infant school that leans into the realities of early childhood, short attention spans, high energy, and the need for consistency. The school’s LEAP values set a clear tone (Enthusiastic Learner, Excellent Communicator, Active and Healthy, Part of the Community), and they show up in the way routines, language, and behaviour expectations are framed across Nursery, Reception, and Key Stage 1.
The headteacher, Mrs Julie Roche, has been in post since January 2018, and the leadership structure explicitly links pastoral responsibility with safeguarding roles.
Practicality is a key feature here. The school day runs 08:45 to 15:15 (effective 23 February 2026), and wraparound childcare is school-run, spanning 07:30 to 18:00 in term time.
A clear set of shared words matters in infant settings because children borrow language before they can reliably generate it. LEAP is presented as more than a poster, it is also embedded as a shorthand for effort and behaviour: being an Enthusiastic Learner, an Excellent Communicator, Active and Healthy, and Part of the Community.
That framing is reinforced by the school’s stated link between its values and the UNICEF Rights of the Child, which is a useful anchor for parents who want an ethos vocabulary that is easy to explain at home.
Leadership and safeguarding visibility is explicit. The Who’s Who page lists Mrs Julie Roche as headteacher and a Designated Safeguarding Lead, alongside Mrs Margaret Johns (deputy headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead) and Mrs Gemma Selmes (business and administration manager and Designated Safeguarding Lead). For parents, that matters because early years issues often surface first as “small” concerns, attendance patterns, friendship fallouts, anxious drop-offs, tiredness, changes in behaviour. Clear named responsibility tends to speed up responses.
Pastoral tone also comes through in how the school describes its early years spaces and team. Nursery and Preschool are presented as a department with its own leadership role (Nursery and Preschool Lead Teacher), and the narrative emphasises safety, confidence, and learning through play as a baseline.
The current inspection evidence aligns with this picture of children feeling secure and settling well.
Because this is an infant and nursery school (ages 3 to 7), it does not sit within the Key Stage 2 testing and published performance tables that parents of junior and primary schools often rely on most. In practical terms, you should expect assessment information to be discussed at the level of Early Years Foundation Stage outcomes, Year 1 phonics, and Key Stage 1 teacher assessment, rather than the Year 6 SATs style metrics. The school’s own performance page sets out the statutory assessment points it covers, including Foundation Stage teacher assessments, Year 1 phonics screening, and end of Key Stage 1 tests.
The latest Ofsted inspection (7 and 8 December 2021) judged the school Good overall and Good across all graded areas, including early years.
For families trying to interpret “Good” in an infant context, the detail that tends to matter is less about raw scores and more about whether children learn to read early, whether language development is systematically taught, and whether behaviour is calm enough for learning to happen. On those points, the inspection report describes children learning phonics well, reading books matched to the sounds they know, and receiving timely extra help where needed.
A historical marker worth noting is the school’s documented focus on phonics attainment in earlier years. In the December 2018 short inspection letter, the school was described as being in the top 7% for phonics attainment based on the Year 1 screening check for 2018. This is not “current performance” in a 2026 sense, but it is a useful indicator that reading has been a leadership priority for some time.
If you are comparing local schools, the FindMySchool Local Hub pages and the Comparison Tool are still useful for viewing nearby settings side by side, but for this particular school the most meaningful evidence will be the curriculum model, the phonics programme, and inspection quality indicators rather than Key Stage 2 tables.
The most distinctive feature of the school’s curriculum narrative is how explicitly it ties early reading to the rest of the curriculum. Reading is described as central because it “opens the doors” to other learning.
The school states that it uses Essential Letters and Sounds as its DfE-validated systematic synthetic phonics programme. It describes daily explicit phonics teaching beginning at the start of Reception and continuing through Year 1 and beyond as needed, with a “keep up” approach and in-lesson intervention where children struggle.
For parents, the implication is practical. A clearly-defined phonics sequence tends to reduce guesswork about what children “should” know at each stage. It also makes home reading support more straightforward because the expectation is decodable books that match taught sound knowledge, rather than mixed-level books that can encourage guessing.
Beyond reading, the school outlines its Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (Prime and Specific Areas), then the National Curriculum subjects taught in Key Stage 1. It also describes physical education in broad terms, with dance, yoga, gymnastics, and ball games included within the curriculum offer.
The school also states it uses SCARF as its PSHE and wellbeing curriculum framework, mapped to statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education requirements. That matters for parents who want clarity on how personal development content is structured, particularly around friendships, feelings, and safety language.
Quality of Education
Good
Behaviour & Attitudes
Good
Personal Development
Good
Leadership & Management
Good
FMS Inspection Score calculated by FindMySchool based on official inspection data.
Because pupils leave at the end of Year 2, the key transition is into a junior school for Year 3. In this area, the most relevant local pathway is into Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School, which is listed as a linked school by Hampshire County Council. Linked school status can affect admission priority depending on the published admissions policy and oversubscription criteria.
The practical implication is that parents should treat Year 3 application planning as its own process, separate from Reception entry. The local authority publishes Year 3 timelines and notification dates, and the junior school also publishes its admissions timelines.
For families focused on continuity, it is worth reading both the infant school admission policy (for Reception entry) and the junior school admissions guidance early, because priority categories, linked schools, and catchment definitions can shift over time.
Admissions are coordinated through Hampshire County Council, rather than being handled purely as a direct-to-school application. The school’s admissions page points families to the local authority portal for both main round and in-year admissions.
The school is oversubscribed on the latest published demand snapshot available here: 103 applications for 82 offers for the relevant entry route provided, which equates to roughly 1.26 applications per place. That is competitive, but not in the “impossible” bracket some coastal towns see. The practical implication is that families should still treat admissions as uncertain if they are outside priority categories.
A useful habit is to use FindMySchool’s Map Search to understand how your home address relates to the school gate and to nearby alternatives, then cross-check that with the current local authority criteria before you commit to housing decisions.
The school publishes a clear deadline for main round Reception applications for 2026 entry: closing date 15 January 2026, with the national notification date 16 April 2026.
If you are applying in-year, the process is different and depends on current vacancies. The school directs parents to the local authority route for in-year applications.
The school offers nursery and preschool places and states it provides 15 or 30 hour places from 2 years 9 months, or from the following term depending on eligibility and age cut-offs.
For many families, the key question is whether nursery attendance guarantees a Reception place. In most state systems, it does not, even when the nursery is on the same site. Parents should assume a separate Reception application is required unless the school and local authority explicitly state otherwise in policy.
Applications
103
Total received
Places Offered
82
Subscription Rate
1.3x
Apps per place
In early years, wellbeing is less about formal “pastoral systems” and more about whether the adults share consistent responses to predictable situations: separation anxiety, friendship wobbles, frustration, tiredness, and big feelings at small triggers. The school’s stated learning behaviours include independence and resilience, collaboration and relationships, self-awareness, and thinking skills, which maps well to the practical work of helping young children manage school life.
The inspection evidence also supports a culture of safety and trust. Inspectors described pupils trusting adults to help with concerns and feeling safe, with bullying described by pupils as rare.
Wraparound care can also play a wellbeing role, particularly for children who struggle with transition points. Here, the school-run provision is framed as a consistent “home from home” style offer staffed by familiar adults, which can reduce the number of handovers a child experiences in a day.
Infant schools often talk about clubs in generic terms. Here, the school is unusually specific, which makes it easier for parents to imagine what their child will actually do across a term.
The extra-curricular rota includes named options such as Steel Pans, Running Club, Mindfulness Club, Choir, Lego Club (Reception), and Sports Club, with activities typically running in a six-week rotation so more children can access them.
The curriculum page adds further detail about enrichment that links to the school day rather than being purely “after school”, including Forest School, sensory circuits, drama, ukulele, mindfulness, and sport activity strands.
For families, the implication is twofold:
Children who learn best through movement, making, and talk get multiple structured opportunities to do so, not just “more worksheets”.
Parents who worry that an infant setting will feel narrow can take confidence from named arts and wellbeing activities that are built into the wider offer, especially when paired with a systematic phonics approach.
The published school day runs from 08:45 to 15:15 (effective 23 February 2026).
Wraparound childcare is school-run in term time, open 07:30 to 18:00, with morning sessions to 08:50 and after-school sessions from 15:00, plus an extended option to 18:00.
For travel planning and transport support, Hampshire County Council signposts families to its journey planning tools and home-to-school transport guidance.
Limited “headline results” data. As an infant school, this setting does not come with the Key Stage 2 performance tables parents often expect. You will rely more on curriculum evidence (phonics approach, reading practice, wellbeing framework) and inspection quality indicators.
Wraparound is a strength, but check availability. The hours are broad and school-run, which is unusual, but places can still fill. If wraparound is central to your childcare plan, confirm availability early.
Nursery does not automatically mean Reception. Even with on-site nursery and preschool, families should plan for a separate Reception application unless the current admissions policy explicitly states otherwise.
This is a practical, child-centred infant and nursery school with a clear values framework (LEAP), a strongly-defined approach to early reading (Essential Letters and Sounds), and a notably comprehensive school-run wraparound offer for working families.
Who it suits: families who want a structured start to school life, with consistent behaviour language, systematic phonics, and wraparound childcare that reduces daily logistics.
The main constraint is admissions competition, rather than the educational offer itself.
The latest inspection outcome is Good, with Good grades across all key areas including early years. Parents who value early reading will also want to look at the school’s phonics programme, which is set out clearly, and the way behaviour expectations are framed through LEAP values.
Reception applications are made through the local authority route. The school publishes the main round deadline for 2026 entry as 15 January 2026, with the national offer day on 16 April 2026.
Yes. The school runs its own wraparound care in term time, open 07:30 to 18:00. Morning sessions run to 08:50, and after-school sessions run from 15:00 to 17:45 with an extended option to 18:00.
The main transition is into a junior school at Year 3. Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School is listed as a linked school by Hampshire County Council, and linked school status can affect priority depending on the oversubscription criteria in the published admissions policy.
The school states it uses Essential Letters and Sounds as its systematic synthetic phonics programme, with daily phonics teaching starting in Reception and continuing through Year 1 and beyond where needed. It also describes a decodable reading approach matched to taught sound knowledge.
Get in touch with the school directly
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