Grassmoor Primary School

Grassmoor Primary School is a friendly, welcoming community primary that inspectors found effective across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and it remains a good school. Staff understand pupils and the local community well, the curriculum is ambitious and has been strengthened since the previous inspection, and reading is a particular priority from the early years onwards. Pupils with SEND are supported quickly and well, and the early years provision is nurturing and purposeful. Current pupils are achieving better than published key stage 2 outcomes suggest, especially in reading, although those outcomes fell below national averages partly because of gaps from the previous curriculum and the pandemic. Most pupils behave well and attend as expected, and pupils benefit from roles, wider activities and pastoral support. Safeguarding is effective, and governors and leaders have a clear shared understanding of priorities. There are still areas to improve. Curriculum implementation is inconsistent in a small number of foundation subjects, and pupils do not always recall key content or apply basic writing skills across the curriculum. Persistent absenteeism remains high and is falling only steadily, while a few pupils do not meet behaviour expectations and suspensions have risen significantly. Pupils’ understanding of disabilities, equity and equality is also less secure.

Strengths

• Pupils are friendly, welcoming and mostly enjoy school.
• Staff understand pupils’ needs and the local community well.
• The curriculum is ambitious, relevant and organised from Nursery to Year 6.
• Reading is prioritised and pupils develop positive attitudes to books from the early years.
• Pupils with SEND have their needs met quickly through skilled, tailored support.
• Early years provision is nurturing and helps children develop independence.
• Staff are trained to understand and manage more challenging behaviour.
• Pastoral support, including the Woodland Room, helps pupils with worries.
• Pupils take on meaningful roles such as well-being ambassadors and school parliament representatives.
• Leaders consider staff workload and well-being carefully.
• Governors use their expertise well to support and challenge the school.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent in a small number of foundation subjects.
• Some activities do not help pupils recall key subject content well enough.
• Pupils do not routinely apply basic writing skills across the curriculum.
• Persistent absenteeism remains high, although rates are falling.
• A small number of pupils do not meet the school’s high behaviour expectations.
• Occasional name-calling still occurs, and pupil suspensions have risen significantly.
• Pupils’ understanding of disabilities, equality and fairness is less secure.

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 Grassmoor Primary School attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.5% 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, 3.9% of pupils at Grassmoor Primary 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 Grassmoor Primary School had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.6% 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, 28.6% of pupils at Grassmoor Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 2025–26 Grassmoor Primary School received £8,758 and spent £9,038 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £65,000 (-£309 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Chesterfield · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Grassmoor Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Grassmoor Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Grassmoor Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Grassmoor Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Grassmoor Primary School have?

Grassmoor Primary School has 220 pupils on roll.

What age range does Grassmoor Primary School cover?

Grassmoor Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Grassmoor Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 40% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Grassmoor Primary School?

Grassmoor Primary School is at North Wingfield Road, Grassmoor, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S42 5EP.