St Stephen's Infant School
General Information
- Address: Hales Drive, St Stephen's, Canterbury, CT2 7AB – View on map
- Phone: 01227769204
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Alice Edgington
- Age range: 5-7 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 63 families put it first for 69 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 8 · 2025 9 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 86
- % eligible for free school meals: 33.0%
- Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Canterbury average)
- English as an additional language: 36% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 23.6% a year (Canterbury 13.9%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 55% moved to another school, 45% 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.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Kent: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 21 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
- Suspensions for bullying: 32 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (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 Kent (the council area this school is in), 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: 6.9%
- Persistently absent pupils: 21.5%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 12.9%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.3%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 9 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Hearing impairment: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 4 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2024 report
View full Ofsted inspection report
3rd of 3 infant schools in Canterbury for Ofsted rating
- #1Herne Bay Infant SchoolGood
- #2St Alphege Church of England Infant SchoolGood
- #3St Stephen'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)