Melbourne Junior School

Melbourne Junior School remains a good school where pupils are happy, safe, and motivated to learn. The school displays a vibrant and ambitious atmosphere, with a strong emphasis on pupil support and care. Families appreciate the teachers' dedication to understanding students’ interests both in and out of school. The curriculum is well-organized, enabling pupils to make meaningful connections across subjects. Despite overall strong performances, a few disadvantaged pupils are not achieving their full potential, indicating a need for higher expectations and better tracking of engagement in extracurricular activities.

Strengths

• Pupils have positive attitudes and relationships with each other.
• The school curriculum is well sequenced and carefully organized.
• Reading is prioritized with a well-sequenced curriculum.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported to learn alongside peers.
• The personal development program is of high quality.
• Teachers provide clear explanations and check for understanding effectively.
• The school has strong staff teamwork and support.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could, particularly disadvantaged pupils.
• The effectiveness of enrichment activities is not routinely evaluated.

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 Melbourne Junior School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.6% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Melbourne Junior 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 Melbourne Junior School had 24.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.3% 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, 16.4% of pupils at Melbourne Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.4% 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 Melbourne Junior School received £7,034 and spent £7,025 for each of its 226 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £194,000 (£856 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 Derby · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Melbourne Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Melbourne Junior School is Good, from an inspection in September 2024.

When was Melbourne Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Melbourne Junior School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Melbourne Junior School have?

Melbourne Junior School has 226 pupils on roll.

What age range does Melbourne Junior School cover?

Melbourne Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Melbourne Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Melbourne Junior School?

Melbourne Junior School is at Packhorse Road, Melbourne, Derby, Derbyshire, DE73 8JE.