Chellaston Infant School

Chellaston Infant School is performing well across all inspected areas. Leaders have built a united, ambitious culture and the school has improved significantly since its last inspection, with an appropriate pace of change. Pupils are happy and behave well, relationships are warm, and the school’s values and rewards support positive attitudes and personal development. The curriculum is well structured and ambitious, reading is prioritised through a consistent phonics approach, and pupils with SEND are supported highly effectively, including through bespoke provision in The Hive. Governance and trust support are strengths, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. There are still some areas to sharpen. In a few subjects, teachers do not consistently identify gaps in pupils’ learning or adapt tasks well enough, which limits how well some pupils achieve. Subject leaders are not always giving clear guidance on improving teaching, and leaders’ checks on curriculum implementation are still developing. In the early years, staff can be overly supportive, so opportunities to deepen children’s thinking and build independence are sometimes missed. This is an infant school for pupils aged 4 to 7 and is part of the East Midlands Education Trust. It was inspected under section 5 for the first time, after a previous section 8 inspection, and the headteacher also leads another school.

Strengths

• Ambitious, well-structured curriculum supported by effective teacher training and strong vocabulary development.
• Reading is prioritised through a consistent phonics programme, regular checks and timely support for pupils who fall behind.
• Highly effective SEND provision with early identification, personalised objectives and bespoke support in The Hive.
• Warm, united culture with high behaviour expectations and strong staff-pupil relationships.
• Pupils’ personal development is supported through safety, online safety, respect and cultural learning.
• Strong governance and highly effective trust support.
• Children settle quickly into early years and benefit from a vocabulary-focused curriculum.
• Leaders have established clarity, purpose and an appropriate pace of change since the last inspection.

Areas for Improvement

• Subject leaders do not always provide clear guidance on how to improve teaching in their subjects.
• Curriculum implementation checks are still developing, so a few pupils do not achieve as well as they could.
• In a few subjects, there is no consistent approach to identifying gaps in pupils’ learning.
• Teachers do not always adapt tasks suitably to support pupils’ needs, which limits learning.
• Early years staff can be overly supportive, missing opportunities to deepen children’s understanding and build independence.
• Opportunities are sometimes missed to challenge children’s thinking and build their resilience in the early years.

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 Chellaston Infant School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.0% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Chellaston 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 Chellaston Infant School had 18.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.0% 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, 21.4% of pupils at Chellaston Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 Chellaston Infant School received £7,207 and spent £7,280 for each of its 231 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £52,000 (£226 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of East Midlands Education Trust, income was £7,496 and spending £7,400 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

Chellaston Infant School is part of East Midlands Education Trust, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• Chellaston Junior School Derby
• Homefields Primary School Derby
• Oak Grange Primary School Derby
• Castle Donington College Derby
• John Flamsteed Community School Ripley
• Awsworth Primary and Nursery School Nottingham
• Street Lane Primary School Ripley
• Kimberley Primary School Nottingham
• Gilthill Primary School Nottingham
• Limehurst Academy Loughborough

What is Chellaston Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Chellaston Infant School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Chellaston Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Chellaston Infant School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Chellaston Infant School have?

Chellaston Infant School has 215 pupils on roll.

What age range does Chellaston Infant School cover?

Chellaston Infant School for pupils aged 5 to 7.

Where is Chellaston Infant School?

Chellaston Infant School is at School Lane, Chellaston, Derby, Derbyshire, DE73 6TA.