Cavendish Close Junior Academy

Cavendish Close Junior Academy is a calm, inclusive and well-run school that is meeting expectations overall. It is part of The Harmony Trust and has not had significant changes since its last inspection in January 2022. Pupils achieve in line with national averages from a broad range of starting points, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Attendance has improved dramatically and is now higher than national, persistent absence is well below average, and behaviour is positive; pupils are polite, proud of their school and serious poor behaviour or bullying is rare. The curriculum is well organised, teaching is typically effective, and inclusion and pastoral support are strong.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well from a broad range of starting points, with end of key stage 2 outcomes in line with national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND achieve in line with national figures.
• Attendance has improved dramatically and is higher than national averages.
• Persistent absence is well below average and continues to improve.
• Behaviour around the school is positive; pupils are polite, courteous and proud of their school.
• Serious poor behaviour, including bullying, is rare and dealt with swiftly when it occurs.
• The curriculum is well organised across all subjects, with clear knowledge and cumulative build.
• Teaching is typically effective and staff have a consistent understanding of good-quality teaching.
• Pupils who need help with early reading benefit from a well-organised systematic synthetic phonics programme.
• SEND provision is strong, including for the high proportion of pupils with EHC plans.
• Disadvantaged pupils are well-supported and the pupil premium strategy identifies appropriate barriers and actions.
• Leaders have a clear, ambitious vision and a demonstrable track record of improvement.
• Staff feel well supported, and leaders take good care of workload and wellbeing.
• Trust support and challenge is systematic, well organised and holds leaders to account.
• Personal development is well designed, including PSHE, relationships education and the 10-point pledge.
• Pastoral support is a strength, with staff trained to support pupils' social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Pupils learn to be inclusive, respectful and tolerant, and are prepared well for life in modern Britain.
• Pupils benefit from a broad range of extracurricular and enrichment activities available to all.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of lessons, teachers do not check closely enough on how well pupils are getting on, so pupils who struggle or have misconceptions are not identified and addressed promptly.
• Leaders do not carry out sufficiently detailed checks on how effectively the pupil premium strategy is working for disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders do not use the full range of information they hold to evaluate the impact of the school's work over time, including in aspects of behaviour, teaching and quality assurance.
• As a result, leaders do not have a highly detailed view of their successes and where relative weaknesses might emerge over time.

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 Close Junior Academy attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.2% 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, 0.3% of pupils at Cavendish Close Junior Academy 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 Close Junior Academy had 20.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.5% 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, 24.0% of pupils at Cavendish Close Junior Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.7% 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 Cavendish Close Junior Academy received £8,232 and spent £8,320 for each of its 300 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £221,000 (-£736 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of The Harmony Trust Ltd, income was £7,256 and spending £7,263 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

Cavendish Close Junior Academy is part of The Harmony Trust Ltd, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Lakeside Primary Academy Derby
• Alvaston Junior Academy Derby
• Village Primary Academy Derby
• Reigate Park Primary Academy Derby
• Cottons Farm Primary Academy Derby
• Carlyle Infant and Nursery Academy Derby
• Ash Croft Primary Academy Derby
• Hackwood Primary Academy Derby
• Greenfield Primary Academy Cheshire
• Alt Academy Oldham

What is Cavendish Close Junior Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cavendish Close Junior Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Cavendish Close Junior Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Cavendish Close Junior Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Cavendish Close Junior Academy have?

Cavendish Close Junior Academy has 288 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cavendish Close Junior Academy cover?

Cavendish Close Junior Academy for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cavendish Close Junior Academy?

Cavendish Close Junior Academy is at Deborah Drive, Chaddesden, Derby, Derbyshire, DE21 4RJ.