Pear Tree Community Junior School

Pear Tree Community Junior School is a caring, inclusive school where pupils feel safe and well supported. Safeguarding standards are met, behaviour has improved significantly, and pupils benefit from a strong personal development programme, wide enrichment opportunities and effective pastoral care. The school serves a diverse community with a very high proportion of disadvantaged pupils and many pupils who speak English as an additional language, and it is part of Transform Trust. Recent leadership changes have brought a clear understanding of the school’s context and priorities, and leaders have already secured improvements in writing, behaviour and inclusion.

Strengths

• Caring and inclusive ethos where pupils feel safe and supported
• High-quality pastoral support that helps pupils feel ready to learn
• Behaviour policy working well, with a significant reduction in poor behaviour
• Playtime arrangements have improved cooperation and reduced behaviour incidents
• Bullying is rare and incidents are typically dealt with effectively
• Well-organised and ambitious personal development programme
• Strong PSHE curriculum covering health, safety, equality and British values
• Impressive range of clubs, experiences and pupil leadership roles
• Well-tailored support for pupils who speak English as an additional language
• Pupils with SEND generally receive appropriate support and make secure progress
• Pupil premium strategy is based on the right priorities and is carefully checked
• Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and improvement priorities
• Staff are cohesive, well supported and proud to work at the school
• Trust, trustees and local governors provide joined-up challenge and support
• Attendance procedures are robust and early signs of improvement are emerging
• Curriculum improvements in writing, handwriting and mathematics set clear milestones

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils’ achievement has been consistently below national averages
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve well below national figures
• Outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are below national averages
• Some pupils have gaps in core knowledge that limit access to the curriculum
• Mathematical knowledge and fluency weaknesses are more persistent
• Curriculum and teaching are inconsistent across subjects
• Some subjects do not make clear the most important content pupils should know
• In some cases there is too much curriculum content, so teachers do not prioritise well
• Some teachers do not check prior knowledge closely enough or adapt work accurately
• Some misconceptions are not identified quickly enough
• The school has not yet established a systematic approach to identifying gaps in mathematical knowledge
• SEND targets sometimes lack precision about the small steps pupils should achieve
• Too many pupils still miss too much school
• Persistent absence remains well above national averages
• Some pupils are not as well prepared as they could be for the next stage of education
• Leaders’ work to improve curriculum and teaching is at an early stage

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 Pear Tree Community Junior School attended 92.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 34.3% 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, 0.8% of pupils at Pear Tree Community 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 Pear Tree Community Junior School had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.0% 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, 17.2% of pupils at Pear Tree Community Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.1% 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 2024–25 Pear Tree Community Junior School received £7,929 and spent £7,759 for each of its 359 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £307,000 (£855 per pupil).

Across all 26 schools of Transform Trust, income was £7,034 and spending £7,060 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Derby · Derby local authority: places and applications

Pear Tree Community Junior School is part of Transform Trust, which runs 27 schools. The nearest others:

• Zaytouna Primary School Derby
• Allenton Primary School Derby
• Ravensdale Junior School Derby
• Lawn Primary School Derby
• Breadsall Hill Top Primary School Derby
• Ashbrook Junior School Derby
• Heage Primary School Belper
• Brocklewood Primary and Nursery School Nottingham
• Whitegate Primary and Nursery School Nottingham
• Highbank Primary and Nursery School Nottingham

What is Pear Tree Community Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pear Tree Community Junior School is Needs attention, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Pear Tree Community Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pear Tree Community Junior School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Pear Tree Community Junior School have?

Pear Tree Community Junior School has 355 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pear Tree Community Junior School cover?

Pear Tree Community Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Pear Tree Community Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 36% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Pear Tree Community Junior School?

Pear Tree Community Junior School is at Pear Tree Street, Derby, Derbyshire, DE23 8PN.