Hempstead Infant School
General Information
- Address: Hempstead Road, Hempstead, Gillingham, ME7 3QG – View on map
- Phone: 01634336963
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mr Paul Cross
- Age range: 4-7 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 81 families put it first for 86 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 3 of the 86 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 18
- % eligible for free school meals: 7.2%
- Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (less mixed than the Medway average)
- English as an additional language: 6% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 3.7% a year (Medway 17.4%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
- Where they went: about 62% moved to another school, 38% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Medway: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Medway, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 5.1%
- Persistently absent pupils: 9.2%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 11.2%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.6%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 21 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Multi-sensory impairment: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2024 report
View full Ofsted inspection report
3rd of 6 infant schools in Medway for Ofsted rating
- #1Crest Infant SchoolGood
- #2Gordons Children's Academy, InfantGood
- #3Hempstead Infant SchoolGood
- #4St John's Church of England Infant SchoolGood
- #5St Margaret's Infant SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil, and how this school compares to others nearby, will appear here once we've linked in official DfE spending data.
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)