School Chooser

Pear Tree Infant School

Primary · ages 2-7MixedCouncil266 pupilsNursery Free breakfast clubDerby
School Chooser Score
3
Well below
similar schools
Likely range 1 to 6
Out of 100. Better than 8% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
#15,585 of 16,041 in England#72 in DerbyHow it is worked out
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, November 2022
Attendance89.7%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families65%Far more than most schools
Places4 spare266 pupils, 270 places
Pupils per teacher21.1School workforce census
Pupils on roll266Census January 2026

Pear Tree Infant School is a council school in Derby for boys and girls aged 2 to 7. It has 266 pupils and room for 270. About 65 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 3 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 8% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.

Pear Tree Street, Normanton, Pear Tree Infant School, Pear Tree Street, Derby, De23 8pn, Derby, DE23 8PN01332 767244peartreeinfantandnursery.co.ukMrs Balbinder Suddhi headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 30 November 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes
Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcomeInspected as
4 May 2023UngradedSchool remains OutstandingWalbrook Nursery School (predecessor)

† These inspections are for Walbrook Nursery School, the school this one replaced. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

Results

No published results yet for this school.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Full261 pupils for 258 places, 2024/25
101% full

The school is full, with 3 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Derby council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll266Census January 2026
Places27099% full
Pupils from low-income families65%65% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English86%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support14%38 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan3%8 pupils with a plan
Average class size26.610 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)62%£248,000 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls130 / 136
White British pupils5%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (20), Specific learning difficulty (9), Hearing impairment (5), Moderate learning difficulty (4), emotional and mental health (4), Autistic spectrum disorder (3).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll266257260267267255
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals65%60%62%65%61%56%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language86%74%77%77%79%73%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support–14%13%12%6%6%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans–2%1%1%1%0%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance89.7%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school39.8%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.02024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission4.3%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence10.3%10.3%10.1%8.5%6.8%6.7%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence6.0%5.5%6.5%4.9%3.6%3.9%–
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence4.3%4.8%3.7%3.6%3.2%2.8%–
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence39.8%38.3%39.3%28.9%21.7%26.0%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.00.00.00.00.0––
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000––

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers12.6full-time equivalent, 14 people
Pupils per teacher21.1Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants11.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£49,025
Teachers who left in the year42%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher2.12024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£7,255England £7,738. Total £1.9m
Income per pupil£7,911England £7,697. Total £2.0m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,524England £3,480
Money in reserve52%A lot put by: £1.1m, £4,100 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£169kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£7,255spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m94612 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate194 per 1,000 people114% higher than the England average
Nearest bus stop250 mVulcan, 11 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Pear Tree Community Junior SchoolAcademy0 m355Good 20215Compare
Hardwick Primary SchoolAcademy600 m589No overall grade 20259Compare
Arboretum Primary SchoolAcademy670 m607Good 20247Compare
Village Primary AcademyAcademy780 m700Good 202224Compare
St James' Church of England Aided Junior SchoolAcademy0.6 miles299Good 202418Compare
Dale Community Primary SchoolCouncil0.7 miles545Good 202313Compare
Rosehill Infant and Nursery SchoolCouncil0.7 miles196Good 20201Compare
Ashwood Spencer AcademyAcademy0.7 miles659Good 202348Compare
Primary schools in DerbyBest primary schools in England

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Pear Tree Infant School with the 50 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats8%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
Near the bottom of its group. Its score of 3 is 37 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 0 · middle 40 · highest 100100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 50 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Pear Tree Infant School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St James' Church of England Aided Junior SchoolAcademy0.6 miles299Good 202418Compare
Zaytouna Primary SchoolFree school0.8 miles417Good 202339Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 3 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 3% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 1 to 6. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years0%no data
–
Ofsted inspection18% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old)in line
+0.02
Ofsted grade, 3.8 years old
Progress pupils make0%no data
–
Direction of travel over five years10%well below
-0.49
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%well below
-0.73
2024/25; 201 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils0%no data
–
What parents say0%no data
–

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Pear Tree Infant School a good school?

The figures are weak. Pear Tree Infant School scores 3 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 8% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 1 to 6, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Pear Tree Infant School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Pear Tree Infant School good at its last full inspection on 30 November 2022.

How many pupils does Pear Tree Infant School have?

266 pupils aged 2 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 99% full.

Is Pear Tree Infant School oversubscribed?

Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 3 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.

What is attendance like at Pear Tree Infant School?

Pupils were in school 89.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 40% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Pear Tree Infant School?

The average class had 26.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

Does Pear Tree Infant School have a breakfast club?

Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Pear Tree Street, Normanton, Pear Tree Infant School, Pear Tree Street, Derby, De23 8pn, Derby, DE23 8PN
Telephone
01332 767244
Website
www.peartreeinfantandnursery.co.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Balbinder Suddhi
Free breakfast club
Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 2-7, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Derby
Ward
Normanton
Constituency
Derby South
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
112728 · LAESTAB 8312424 · UKPRN 10076482
Formerly
Walbrook Nursery School
Official recordOfsted reportsGovernment performance tablesDownload this school's data (CSV)

Where these figures come from