Cavendish Junior School

Cavendish Junior School is a small junior school serving a deprived area with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals. Inspectors found a happy, safe and caring school where pupils are eager to attend, behaviour is good and attendance is positive and improving. Safeguarding standards are met. Most areas — attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development — are working at the expected standard, with pastoral care, SEND support, reading culture and the broad personal development offer standing out as strengths. However, achievement needs attention. Outcomes are inconsistent and in 2025 the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was significantly below national. Mathematics has been below national for three years, and the school does not consistently identify and address gaps in pupils' foundational mathematical knowledge. There are also inconsistencies in early reading: not all staff are fully trained in the phonics approach, and some pupils' reading books do not match the sounds they know. Leadership has a clear and ambitious vision, effective governance and a strong focus on staff wellbeing, and parents speak highly of the school. The main areas for improvement are to tackle the mathematics and early reading issues and to make sure improvement plans and pupil premium actions show clearly how their impact will be checked.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met with an open and positive culture.
• Pupils are happy, safe and cared for in a nurturing environment with positive relationships.
• Attendance is positive and increasing, with low repeated absence and strong attendance among disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• The behaviour policy is consistently understood and applied, pupils behave well and bullying is rare.
• The curriculum is well tailored, clearly sequenced and regularly checked by leaders.
• Staff have strong subject knowledge and adapt teaching for pupils with SEND.
• Reading culture is strong, including a wide range of texts and family use of the curiosity cabin.
• SEND support is effective, accurately identified and closely monitored.
• Disadvantaged pupils typically achieve as well as or better than disadvantaged peers nationally.
• Personal development is broad and rich, including PSHE, RSE, trips, residentials, clubs and Cavendish college.
• Pastoral support is a strength, with personalised mentor support for pupils who need it.
• Leadership has a clear ambitious vision, a cohesive staff team and effective governance.
• Staff wellbeing and workload are prioritised, and parents speak highly of the school.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement is inconsistent, and 2025 combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes were significantly below national.
• Mathematics attainment has been below national for three years.
• Foundational gaps in pupils' mathematical knowledge are not consistently identified and addressed.
• Not all staff are fully trained in the school's phonics approach, leading to inconsistent early reading support.
• Some early readers have reading books that do not match the sounds they know.
• School improvement plans do not consistently show how actions will be checked and evaluated.
• Pupil premium strategy impact evaluation is unclear in some areas, reducing accountability.

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 Cavendish Junior School attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.9% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Cavendish 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 Cavendish Junior School had 14.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.3% 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, 20.9% of pupils at Cavendish Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.5% 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 Cavendish Junior School received £10,574 and spent £10,587 for each of its 86 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £277,000 (£3,223 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 Cavendish Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cavendish Junior School is Needs attention, from an inspection in February 2026.

When was Cavendish Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cavendish Junior School was last inspected in February 2026.

How many pupils does Cavendish Junior School have?

Cavendish Junior School has 86 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cavendish Junior School cover?

Cavendish Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cavendish Junior School?

Cavendish Junior School is at Edmund Street, Newbold Moor, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S41 8TD.