Charlotte Nursery and Infant School

This is an established nursery and infant school in Ilkeston, serving children from age 3 through to the end of Year 2. The most recent inspection (23 and 24 April 2025, published 10 June 2025) graded key areas across the school rather than awarding an overall headline grade. The judgements were Requires improvement for quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision; behaviour and attitudes and personal development were Good.

Leadership is currently led by Headteacher Miss Emma Pitman, who took up the role in February 2019.

For families, the “headline” is a school with a warm community feel and consistently positive behaviour, alongside a clear improvement agenda focused on curriculum coherence, assessment routines, and early years precision.

There is a strong emphasis on community and relationships, with pupils encouraged to see school as a shared endeavour between staff and families. That shows up in practical ways, including a well-signposted early help approach that routes families to support through the school as well as external services.

The school’s THRIVE values are used as behavioural and cultural anchors, shaping routines and expectations. The 2025 inspection narrative links these values to pupils’ conduct and the way pupils interact with each other, which aligns with the school’s own messaging about belonging and security.

A distinctive element here is “Doris the school dog”, referenced in official inspection materials as part of how the school encourages pupils to be caring and considerate. It is a small detail, but it is also a signal of the school’s broader approach, calm culture first, then learning on top.

Because this is a nursery and infant school, families should not expect a Key Stage 2 results profile. The meaningful questions are about early reading, the quality of teaching in the foundational curriculum, and whether pupils leave at the end of Year 2 well prepared for junior school.

The inspection evidence points to clear strengths in early reading. Reading is explicitly prioritised from Reception, with a consistent approach and regular checks that trigger extra support if pupils fall behind. Pupils are described as enjoying reading and leaving Year 2 reading fluently.

The improvement priorities are also clear. Curriculum intent is described as ambitious, but not yet sufficiently cohesive between early years and Key Stage 1 in every subject. Assessment approaches to check what pupils “know and remember” are also described as uneven across subjects, which makes it harder for teaching teams to identify misconceptions early and adjust lessons.

The best way to understand teaching here is to start with how the school builds the basics.

Early reading is treated as the cornerstone. The inspection commentary describes structured teaching from Reception, regular checking, and rapid support to help pupils keep up. The school also positions English, especially reading and writing, as the “heart” of learning across the infant phase, with an emphasis on high quality texts and a clear end point by Year 2, confident independent readers.

Mathematics is also described as having a consistent approach, with leaders checking that it is taught consistently across classes. That matters in an infant setting, because small inconsistencies in how number, calculation, and representations are taught can become large gaps by Year 3.

Curriculum breadth and real-life enrichment are present, but with a quality caveat. The inspection evidence describes an ambitious curriculum and broad experiences, and also makes the case that subject leadership expertise and curriculum progression mapping need strengthening in some areas, especially from early years into Year 1. For families, this translates into a school that provides plenty of stimulus and enrichment, while working on the behind-the-scenes sequencing and assessment that make learning secure over time.

Pupils leave at the end of Year 2, so transition planning to junior school is a practical priority. The school’s older inspection history references liaison procedures with the local junior school, and the current model of Derbyshire admissions means destination will typically depend on the junior place allocated and any family move patterns.

A sensible question to ask at the shortlisting stage is how transition is handled for different cohorts, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and how the school shares learning information with the receiving junior school to avoid repetition or gaps.

Reception admissions are coordinated by Derbyshire County Council, not handled directly by the school. The Derbyshire timetable for September 2027 entry is explicit: applications open 9 November 2026, close at midnight on 15 January 2027, with offers released on 16 April 2027.

Demand, based on the most recent provided admissions figures for the Reception route, is meaningfully above supply. There were 99 applications for 59 offers, which equates to about 1.68 applications per place. Put simply, it is oversubscribed, so families should treat preference order and timely application as non-negotiable. (If you are trying to model your likelihood of getting a place, FindMySchool’s Map Search is useful for checking your location context alongside local admission patterns.)

Nursery admissions work differently

The school states that nursery applications can be made after a child’s first birthday, and that places are offered from the term after a child turns three, with both 15 hours and 30 hours patterns available.

Do note the separate rule for early years pricing: nursery fees can change and depend on entitlement; for current nursery cost details, use the school’s official information rather than relying on summaries.

For open events, the website has previously shown Reception and Nursery open sessions in the autumn term, which suggests a typical autumn pattern. Expect open opportunities to cluster in the autumn term again, but check for the current year’s schedule.

The pastoral picture is one of calm, well-established routines and visible safeguarding structures. Safeguarding arrangements are described as effective in the latest inspection materials.

The school also publishes a multi-person safeguarding team structure with designated safeguarding leads (DSLs), including the headteacher and deputies, which can reassure families who want clarity about escalation routes and responsibility.

Another practical wellbeing lever is attendance. The inspection commentary references a more rigorous approach to challenging low attendance, with reported improvement. For families, that tends to show up as clearer expectations around punctuality and term-time absence, and tighter follow-up when patterns begin to slip.

For an infant setting, enrichment is one of the school’s defining features, with a mix of clubs, visits, and outdoor learning.

Clubs and activities are rotated across the year, with examples including Lego, choir, art, Makaton, and a “Chatterbox Cafe”. The key thing is not the long list; it is the cadence, children can sample different activities across the year rather than being locked into one track.

Forest School is positioned as a structured approach to building independence, resilience, practical skills, and safe risk handling, with an expectation that children go out in most weather with appropriate kit. This tends to appeal to families who want outdoor learning to be more than a one-off “topic week”.

Experiences and visitors are part of the enrichment approach too. The inspection narrative references themed experiences such as a “Charlotte beach”, plus trips and visitors ranging from theatres and wildlife parks to African drummers. In an infant school, this kind of cultural and experiential content often supports vocabulary development and writing, provided it is integrated into classroom learning rather than treated as a standalone event.

The school publishes detailed session times by phase.

• Nursery sessions run 8.55am to 11.55am (morning) and 12.20pm to 3.20pm (afternoon), with a full day option also listed.

• Reception runs 8.55am to 3.10pm overall, with a lunch break between 11.45am and 1.00pm.

• Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) runs 8.45am to 3.15pm overall, with lunch 12.15pm to 1.30pm.

Wraparound care is provided via an on-site club arrangement, with sessions from 7.30am to the start of the school day, and from the end of the school day to 6.00pm on weekdays in term time. The same page also publishes per-session costs, which is useful for budgeting.

On food, the school notes that infant pupils are entitled to a free school lunch, with catering provided via the local authority service.

• A clear improvement phase. The latest inspection grades point to a school that is getting key elements right, behaviour and personal development, and still has work to do on curriculum coherence, early years precision, and how learning is checked across subjects.

• Oversubscription pressure. With 99 applications for 59 offers, competition for Reception places is real. Families should plan around the Derbyshire timetable and avoid late applications.

• Infant-only structure. Leaving after Year 2 means a second transition for children. Some pupils thrive on the fresh start at junior school; others prefer the continuity of a primary that runs to Year 6.

• Wraparound is external. Wraparound care is available and well-specified, but it is run by a separate club arrangement, so families may want to confirm booking processes and availability early, especially if you need consistent late pick-up capacity.

This is a community-focused nursery and infant school with strong foundations in behaviour, relationships, and early reading, plus enrichment that goes beyond the classroom through clubs, themed experiences, and Forest School. It is also in a period where improvement priorities are clearly defined around curriculum progression and consistency, especially between early years and Key Stage 1. Best suited to families who value a caring, structured infant setting, are comfortable with a Year 2 transition to junior school, and can plan early for an oversubscribed Reception intake.