Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy

Opened in September 2019, Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy is a newer primary serving families in Chellaston, on the outskirts of Derby. It is part of Spencer Academies Trust, which shapes governance and wider school improvement support.

The latest Ofsted graded inspection (10 and 11 October 2023) rated the school Good overall, with Good also recorded for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision.

This is a state school, so there are no tuition fees. Day-to-day practicalities are unusually clear: the school day runs to 3:30pm, with breakfast and after-school provision extending childcare from 7:15am to 6:00pm on school days.

Demand is a live factor. For the Reception entry route in the provided admissions data, the school is recorded as oversubscribed, with 52 applications for 22 offers (2.36 applications per offer).

Chellaston Fields positions itself as a school that is still building, in a literal and cultural sense. The official vision places heavy emphasis on growth mindset, resilience, curiosity, and learning through collaboration, with explicit references to structured talk, peer support, and teamwork routines.

The school’s internal language is consistent across its published pages. The curriculum branding sits alongside a values-led approach that shows up in assemblies and pupil voice structures. For example, Mindful Monday assemblies and a school council model are presented as central mechanisms for belonging, reflection, and participation, rather than add-ons.

One helpful marker for parents is how the school describes its community-facing work. In its own reporting around the first inspection, it points to activities such as talks from Rolls-Royce engineers and a food drive for a local shelter as examples of civic-minded opportunities. That matters because it signals what “wider experiences” can look like in practice, not just as a slogan.

Leadership has also moved in the last two years. The school announced John Sheard’s appointment as principal in April 2024, and the school’s “About” page lists Mr Sheard as Principal.

There are no Key Stage 2 performance metrics or rankings available for this school, so the most useful public benchmark to use here is inspection evidence and the clarity of the published curriculum model.

What is clear from the school’s published approach is that early reading is treated as a priority, with daily phonics in early years and Key Stage 1, and a named systematic programme, Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. For parents of Reception and Year 1 children, this specificity is meaningful because it usually brings consistency in routines, decodable book matching, and the structure of home reading expectations.

Curriculum intent is unusually well signposted for a newer primary. The school describes a text-driven structure, with a new core text each half term, and it publishes a broad subject map that includes reading and phonics, writing, maths, science, humanities, design technology, computing, PSHE, RE, art, PE and music, plus modern foreign languages.

The way this tends to land for pupils is straightforward. A book-led half term gives coherence across reading, writing and topic work; it can help children talk about learning at home with more confidence because “what we’re doing” is anchored in a shared story or text. The trade-off is that quality depends on tight teaching choices, especially in foundation subjects, where activities need to stay closely tied to the intended knowledge.

In early years, the school publishes a standard Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framing across the prime and specific areas of learning.

As a primary, the key question is transition to secondary. The school does not publish a destinations list with named secondary schools or proportions, so families should assume the usual Derbyshire pattern, a mix of local non-selective secondaries and selective routes where applicable, depending on each child’s pathway and where you live.

A practical step is to use Derbyshire’s coordinated admissions information for your address and preferred secondaries, then attend open events at likely destination schools during Year 5 and early Year 6.

For Reception entry, applications are made via Derbyshire coordinated admissions. For the September 2027 intake, Derbyshire’s primary admissions timetable gives an application deadline of 15 January 2027, with offer notifications on 16 April 2027. Applications are due to open on 9 November 2026.

Published admission number (PAN) is stated as 30 pupils per year group on the school’s “About” page.

The supplied admissions results describes the school as oversubscribed for the Reception entry route, with 2.36 applications per offer, so it is sensible to treat admission as competitive and to keep backup preferences realistic.

Parents comparing chances should use FindMySchool’s Map Search to check distance-to-gate precisely, but note that no “furthest distance at which a place was offered” figure is available for this school, so you will need to rely on Derbyshire’s published criteria and any official allocation data they release.

The school’s published pastoral framing links strongly to values and routines: pupil voice structures (school council reps) and structured PSHE are presented as core. The SMSC page also highlights wellbeing-style activities such as yoga, relaxation, and mindfulness-based reflection time as part of enrichment and personal development.

Safeguarding information is published prominently on the school website, including out-of-hours escalation routes for Derbyshire and Derby City.

Parents often want to know what “enrichment” looks like week to week, not just in headline events. Chellaston Fields provides two credible, practical channels.

First, pupil voice is used to shape clubs. The school describes club creation as staff-led but informed by children’s interests gathered through school council. That suggests provision may change over time as cohorts change, which suits families who want breadth without a fixed, rigid offer.

Second, wraparound care is detailed and activity-based. Breakfast and after-school provision is delivered by Junior Adventures Group, with specific examples such as board games, Lego or construction play, crafts, reading support, and indoor or outdoor exercise activities. For working families, this matters because it tells you the sessions are structured around activities and not just supervision.

For one-off enrichment, the school has also pointed to external speakers and community action projects (for example, the cited Rolls-Royce engineering talk and a local shelter food drive). These are the kinds of examples that can broaden horizons in a newer school still building its traditions.

The school day ends at 3:30pm. Doors open at 8:45am, with registration shortly after, and the published weekly compulsory time is 32.5 hours for Reception to Year 6.

Wraparound care is clearly stated: breakfast provision runs 7:15am to 8:45am, and after-school provision runs 3:30pm to 6:00pm, term time when the school is open.

For families planning transport, Chellaston is an edge-of-Derby location where school-run traffic can be a factor. It is worth visiting at drop-off and pick-up time during an open event to check parking, walking routes, and how manageable the approach roads feel for your routine.

• A newer school still building track record. Opened in 2019, so there is less long-run public data than for established primaries; the most recent official benchmark remains the 2023 inspection outcome and the school’s published curriculum model.

• Oversubscription pressure. The provided admissions data shows more applicants than offers for the Reception entry route, so families should plan for competition and list realistic alternatives on the local authority form.

• Foundation subject precision. The inspection-era narrative highlights that, at times, activities in some foundation subjects can distract from key learning; parents may want to ask how leaders support consistency of lesson design as the school grows.

• SEND consistency. The same evidence base also points to the importance of staff using SEND support information consistently; if your child has additional needs, ask how classroom strategies are shared, monitored, and reviewed.

Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy is a modern, growing primary with a clearly signposted curriculum framework, a strong emphasis on early reading, and unusually well-defined wraparound childcare. It suits families who value structure, routines, and a values-led approach, and who want a school that is still evolving with its community. The main limiting factor is likely to be admission pressure, so shortlisting should be realistic and informed by Derbyshire’s coordinated admissions process.