Ashbrook Infant School

This is a small, community infant school serving the Borrowash area, with nursery places from age 3 and a straightforward on-site route through to Year 2 before children move on to the neighbouring junior school.

Two practical features shape day-to-day life here. First, the school runs an unusually long “soft start” window, with gates open from 7:20am and the formal start at 8:50am; pick-up is 3:20pm. Second, wraparound care is a known strength: Ashbrook Tigers operates on site before and after school and also in holidays and INSET days.

The current improvement picture matters. The most recent Ofsted inspection (February 2025) rated all four key judgements as Requires Improvement, while Early Years was graded Good. Leadership has also been in flux, with Mrs Lynette Hardwick due to take up headship in January 2026 following the previous head, Helen Roebuck.

Ashbrook’s identity is built around early childhood routines and familiarity. The school’s own welcome materials emphasise a friendly, inclusive culture and a clear pathway for children and families, from Acorns Nursery into Reception, then through four named classes that cover Reception to Year 2. That scale tends to matter for parents, it is easier to build relationships quickly, and it is usually clearer who to speak to when something small needs resolving.

The February 2025 inspection report paints a school where pupils feel safe and relationships with staff are positive. That baseline of security is important for this age range because it is the foundation for everything else: speech and language growth, confidence with early reading, and the willingness to try unfamiliar activities.

Where the atmosphere becomes more mixed is behaviour consistency. The same report describes new behaviour systems being introduced, but not implemented consistently enough to meet expectations across the school day. For families, that typically translates into variability, some children will thrive on the structure that is there, while others need very steady reinforcement to avoid low-level disruption becoming a habit.

Early years provision is a clear bright spot. The inspection describes early years as calm and purposeful, with a strong emphasis on language and communication development. That matters because language is the gateway to phonics, to friendships, and to emotional regulation. If your child is starting nursery or Reception with speech delay, shyness, or limited nursery experience, those priorities are often reassuring.

As an infant school, Ashbrook does not publish Key Stage 2 outcomes, and the usual league-table comparisons many parents expect for Year 6 simply do not apply here. The most useful lens is progress through the early curriculum, particularly early reading, communication and number.

The February 2025 inspection highlights a specific early-reading picture. Phonics is central, and pupils who need extra help receive support to address gaps; pupils with special educational needs and disabilities learn to read alongside their peers. That suggests an inclusion-first approach in the core business of Key Stage 1, rather than separating pupils too quickly into “catch-up” pathways that can limit confidence.

The same report is also clear that the school needs tighter checks on how well pupils learn the intended curriculum, and that some activities do not help pupils recall key knowledge securely, creating gaps that will matter later. In practical terms, parents should expect the school to be focusing on curriculum sequencing and on assessment that genuinely informs next steps, not just end-of-topic tasks.

For parents comparing local schools, this is one of those cases where the FindMySchool local comparison tools are particularly useful, not because Ashbrook’s own test metrics are the headline, but because you can compare the wider cluster of nearby primaries and junior schools that children typically move into after Year 2.

The structure of the day is explicit and well set out. Mornings are framed around the core subjects, including phonics, reading, writing and maths, with spelling, grammar and handwriting also listed as regular features. That clarity is helpful for families supporting learning at home, because you can mirror routines in short bursts, five minutes of phonics, a reading book, and a quick number game tends to fit infant attention spans better than longer homework sessions.

Afternoons are described as the time for foundation subjects, with examples including history, art and design, physical education and computing. The inspection confirms that the school has done subject “deep dives” in early reading, mathematics and geography, and also sampled other subjects such as art, computing and English. That breadth matters, particularly if you want an infant setting that does more than the basics, without losing sight of literacy and numeracy.

SEND leadership is also unusually transparent on the website. Historically, the headteacher has held SENDCo responsibilities (with wider team roles evolving over time). For parents of children with emerging needs, the best question to ask is not “do you support SEND?”, it is “how do you identify needs early, and what does week-by-week support look like in phonics and communication?”. The inspection’s emphasis on language development in early years gives a useful starting point for that conversation.

The transition pathway is simple: children typically move on to Ashbrook Junior School at the end of Year 2, and it is on the same site. That adjacency can make a real difference for children who find change hard, the physical environment remains familiar, and parents are often dealing with fewer “new school” logistics.

What matters most is how well Year 2 prepares children for Key Stage 2 routines. The February 2025 inspection explicitly states the school needs a clearer, more accurate understanding of how well pupils are prepared for their next stages in learning. Families with children who need strong structure should ask what has changed since that inspection, especially around how knowledge is revisited and remembered.

Reception admissions are coordinated through Derbyshire County Council, not directly by the school. For September 2027 entry, the county application window opens on 9 November 2026 and closes on 15 January 2027, with offers released on 16 April 2027.

Ashbrook’s own published admissions guidance sets a standard admission number of 50 for Reception. If the year group is oversubscribed, priority is described in three broad steps: children in the normal area served by the school, then siblings, then other applicants, with distance used as the tiebreaker when needed. Open evenings are described as taking place in the autumn term each year, aligned to the application period, with individual visits available year-round.

Demand data for the most recent admissions cycle suggests real competition: 47 applications for 25 offers for the primary entry route, and the school was oversubscribed. (This admissions ratio is a useful signal, even when year-to-year numbers move around.) Parents shortlisting should use a distance checker rather than relying on assumptions about “close enough”, and the FindMySchool map tools can help you sense-check your proximity against likely cut-offs in your area.

Nursery entry is separate. The school welcomes children into Acorns Nursery in the term after they turn three, and families can register interest directly via the nursery enquiry route.

For infant-age pupils, the essentials are safety, calm routines, predictable adult responses, and fast communication with parents when something changes. On safety, the February 2025 inspection report is clear, safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Attendance is explicitly prioritised, and the inspection notes appropriate action to support families when attendance slips. That matters because missed days at this age often show up later as uneven phonics knowledge and reduced confidence with early number.

Personal development is a current priority area. The inspection indicates pupils’ understanding of diversity and fundamental British values is less well developed than it should be. For parents, the useful question is how this is being addressed through assemblies, stories, visitors, curriculum choices, and day-to-day language used around the school, rather than through one-off events.

The enrichment offer has two strands: school-linked activities that reinforce core skills, and external clubs that broaden experiences.

On the school-linked side, recorder is taught to Year 2 pupils at lunchtime, and the school describes assemblies that include shared stories and character traits. For children who enjoy routine and performance, that kind of steady, low-pressure musical learning can be a confidence builder, it is structured, but it is also social.

On the external side, football is run after school by Central Soccer, and small-group drumming is offered through Rockin Robins. Sport clubs via Super Star Sports run in half-term blocks and can include Ninja Warriors, archery, gymnastics, yoga, tri-golf and tennis, which gives families variety without having to travel between venues on weeknights.

Wraparound care is also part of the wider offer. Ashbrook Tigers provides breakfast and after-school provision on site, which for working families is not just childcare, it is a continuity of setting that can reduce stress for younger children. Tigers operates 7:30am to 9:00am and 3:00pm to 6:00pm in term time, and 7:30am to 6:00pm during holidays and INSET days.

The daily timings are clearly published. Gates open from 7:20am to 9:15am, the official start is 8:50am, and the school day ends at 3:20pm. Pick-up arrangements begin from 2:55pm, which can help parents with multiple drop-offs or local travel constraints.

Wraparound care is available on site via Ashbrook Tigers, including holiday and INSET-day sessions.

For local travel, Borrowash is served by village bus routes that connect into Derby and surrounding areas, and local council guidance highlights public bus services as a practical option.

• Inspection trajectory matters. February 2025 judgements indicate clear work to do across curriculum consistency, behaviour implementation and personal development, even though early years is stronger. This can be a good fit for families who value a school that is actively addressing weaknesses, but it may worry those seeking a settled “no surprises” profile.

• Behaviour consistency is a current challenge. New behaviour systems exist, but are not implemented consistently enough yet. If your child needs very predictable boundaries, ask what has changed since the inspection and how staff are being supported to apply expectations uniformly.

• Competition for places. Recent admissions data indicates oversubscription at the main entry point. With 47 applications for 25 offers proximity and the normal-area definition can be decisive.

• An early handover to junior school. The move to the junior school after Year 2 is a big step for some children. The advantage is that it is on the same site, but parents should still ask how transition is structured for children who are anxious about change.

Ashbrook Infant School is a practical choice for families who want nursery from age 3, a clear Reception-to-Year-2 pathway, and dependable wraparound care on the same site. The strongest immediate signal is early years, which is graded Good, and the wraparound infrastructure that supports working patterns.

It suits families who will engage with the improvement journey, ask sensible questions, and value the small-school feel and predictable routines. The main hurdle is admission in an oversubscribed context, and the main watchpoint is consistency, particularly around behaviour and how securely pupils retain key knowledge as they move towards junior school.