Nelson Infant School

Nelson Infant School is a small, diverse school in a deprived area with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with SEND/EHC plans. Inspectors found safeguarding standards met and judged personal development and wellbeing as strong; all other inspected areas—achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, and leadership and governance—were at the expected standard. The school is therefore fulfilling the expected standard of education, with particularly strong pastoral and personal development work. The school's strengths include an extensive, context-responsive personal development programme, effective pastoral support for pupils and families, strong inclusion, and a well-designed early years provision including a new nursery and specialist SEND provision. Pupils feel safe, behave well, and benefit from a wide range of enrichment. Leadership is clear and ambitious, and staff morale is high, with effective trust support. The main areas for improvement are that phonics outcomes at the end of Year 1 remain below national averages, staff do not always consistently apply agreed strategies, and there are sometimes missed opportunities to extend and deepen pupils' learning. Leaders should also continue developing the nursery so more children are ready for Reception. Persistent absence is above the national average, although leaders are taking robust action.

Strengths

• Extensive personal development and wellbeing programme tailored to the school's context
• Strong pastoral support for pupils and families, including addressing barriers such as food, uniform and sleep
• Pupils feel safe and have trusting relationships with staff
• Wide range of enrichment opportunities, clubs, trips and visitors, accessible to all pupils
• Inclusive practice: disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as peers, and pupils with SEND learn alongside peers
• Specialist provision for pupils with complex speech, language and communication needs and autism
• Early years provision is thoughtfully designed and responsive to community needs, including a new nursery
• Strong focus on oracy and vocabulary from Nursery onwards
• Effective reading catch-up and keep-up support helps most pupils achieve well by end of Year 2
• Clear and ambitious leadership with high staff morale and effective trust support
• Pupils behave well, have positive relationships and respect diversity
• Safeguarding standards met with an open and positive culture

Areas for Improvement

• Phonics outcomes at the end of Year 1 are below national averages
• Staff do not consistently apply agreed strategies and approaches to challenge all pupils
• Some missed opportunities to extend and deepen pupils' knowledge and understanding
• Nursery provision requires continued development to increase the proportion of children ready for Reception
• Persistent absence remains above the national average

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 Nelson Infant School attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.5% 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, 7.3% of pupils at Nelson 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 Nelson Infant School had 14.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.5% 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, 18.2% of pupils at Nelson Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.8% 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 2024–25 Nelson Infant School received £10,131 and spent £10,148 for each of its 110 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £102,000 (£923 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Evolution Academy Trust, income was £6,922 and spending £7,234 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 Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Nelson Infant School is part of Evolution Academy Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• Wensum Junior School Norwich
• Angel Road Infant School Norwich
• Angel Road Junior School Norwich
• Bignold Primary School and Nursery Norwich
• Eaton Primary School Norwich
• Costessey Primary School Norwich
• Filby Primary School Great Yarmouth
• Dell Primary School Lowestoft
• Elm Tree Primary School Lowestoft
• Poplars Community Primary School Lowestoft

What is Nelson Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Nelson Infant School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Nelson Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Nelson Infant School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Nelson Infant School have?

Nelson Infant School has 137 pupils on roll.

What age range does Nelson Infant School cover?

Nelson Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Nelson Infant School?

Nelson Infant School is at Northumberland Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 4EH.