Charlotte Nursery and Infant School

Charlotte Nursery and Infant School is a warm, happy and welcoming school with a strong sense of community. Pupils behave well, personal development is strong, and reading is a clear priority: children begin learning to read in Reception, staff use a consistent approach, and pupils read fluently by Year 2. The school offers a wide range of enrichment and high-quality pastoral support, and safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision are not yet consistently strong. The curriculum is ambitious in key stage 1 but does not connect cohesively with early years, and the early years curriculum lacks precision. In some subjects, checks on what pupils know and remember are not well defined, some subject leaders lack the expertise to monitor and evaluate their subjects, and support for some pupils with SEND in mainstream classes is not adapted well enough. Staffing turbulence has also slowed the pace of improvement. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and since it was previously exempt as an outstanding school. There has been a new headteacher and senior leadership team, and significant staff absence. The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND and a clear understanding of what it needs to do to improve.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming and inclusive 'Charlotte family' community
• Strong reading provision with consistent teaching and support for pupils who fall behind
• Good behaviour and attitudes, with calm movement and joyful playtimes
• High-quality personal development and pastoral support
• Wide range of enrichment, trips, clubs and visitors
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Specially resourced SEND provision offers bespoke learning pathways
• Attendance has improved significantly through a more rigorous approach
• Staff feel cared for and their well-being is considered

Areas for Improvement

• Quality of education requires improvement
• Leadership and management require improvement
• Early years provision requires improvement
• Early years curriculum lacks precision and clarity for securing foundational knowledge
• Curriculum progression from early years to key stage 1 is not cohesively mapped
• Assessment approaches in some subjects are not well defined
• Some subject leaders lack expertise to monitor and evaluate their subjects
• Support and task adaptation for some SEND pupils in mainstream classes are not effective enough
• Staffing turbulence has slowed implementation of intended improvements
• Inconsistencies in teaching approaches remain in some subjects

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 Charlotte Nursery and Infant School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.1% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Charlotte Nursery and Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Charlotte Nursery and Infant School had 22.9 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, 25.0% of pupils at Charlotte Nursery and Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 Charlotte Nursery and Infant School received £7,557 and spent £7,733 for each of its 273 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £53,000 (-£193 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 Ilkeston · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Charlotte Nursery and Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Charlotte Nursery and Infant School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Charlotte Nursery and Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Charlotte Nursery and Infant School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Charlotte Nursery and Infant School have?

Charlotte Nursery and Infant School has 288 pupils on roll.

What age range does Charlotte Nursery and Infant School cover?

Charlotte Nursery and Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Charlotte Nursery and Infant School?

Charlotte Nursery and Infant School is at Trinity Close, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 8LQ.