Portway Infant School

Portway Infant School continues to demonstrate good performance, being characterized by a warm and welcoming environment that fosters pride among its pupils. The school effectively emphasizes the importance of safety and respect, with students quickly adapting to the school's 'golden rules'. Notable strengths include the school's commitment to promoting reading and a broad curriculum that engages pupils in various subjects. However, the inspection highlighted areas for improvement, particularly in ensuring that learning activities are appropriately challenging and tailored to meet all students' needs, especially in reading and history.

Strengths

• Pupils feel proud of their warm and welcoming school.
• Successful implementation of a new phonics program.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Broad and varied curriculum with opportunities for engaging in diverse activities.
• Strong focus on developing a love for reading through a well-designed library.

Areas for Improvement

• Learning activities sometimes do not meet the needs of all pupils.
• Impact of additional support sessions is not always clearly assessed.
• Lack of a clear system to assess how well pupils have learned the curriculum.

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 Portway Infant School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.3% 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, 2.3% of pupils at Portway Infant 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 Portway Infant School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.0% 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, 20.8% of pupils at Portway Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.8% 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 Portway Infant School received £7,116 and spent £7,203 for each of its 168 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £112,000 (-£668 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 · Derby local authority: places and applications

What is Portway Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Portway Infant School is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was Portway Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Portway Infant School was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does Portway Infant School have?

Portway Infant School has 168 pupils on roll.

What age range does Portway Infant School cover?

Portway Infant School for pupils aged 5 to 7.

Where is Portway Infant School?

Portway Infant School is at Woodlands Road, Allestree, Derby, Derbyshire, DE22 2HE.