William Rhodes Primary and Nursery School

About William Rhodes Primary and Nursery School

Parents at William Rhodes Primary and Nursery School are overwhelmingly positive, with 90% of respondents to the most recent Parent View survey saying they would recommend the school. The survey, which ran from September 2024 to September 2025 and collected 30 responses, shows particularly strong satisfaction with the school's wider offer: 77% strongly agreed that their child can take part in clubs and activities, and 63% strongly agreed that the school supports their child's wider personal development. A combined 96% of parents either agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school. The school is clearly popular locally, too. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 43 applications for just 25 places, an oversubscription ratio of 1.72, and all 24 first-preference applicants were offered a place. This combination of strong parent endorsement and high demand suggests a school that has built a solid reputation in Chesterfield.

Academically, William Rhodes presents a mixed picture. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 47% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is below the Derbyshire local authority average of 59%. The school ranks 19th out of 25 primary schools in Chesterfield on this measure, placing it in the bottom 50% nationally. Looking at individual subjects, results are more varied: 60% of pupils met the expected standard in writing, compared with 57% in maths and 53% in reading. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard in these subjects is low, ranging from 10% in writing to 13% in both reading and maths. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2025 rated it Good across all areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership. This is a notable improvement from its previous inspection in 2018, when it was judged to require improvement overall.

The school offers a range of facilities that support its curriculum, including a Forest School, a sensory room, music rooms, and a gymnasium. Sports provision is broad, with cricket, football, dance, cross country, athletics, swimming and netball all available, and clubs include Eco Club, Coding and Book Club. The school has a nursery provision for children from age two and caters for a significant proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, at 58.5%. For families with children who have special educational needs, the school lists provisions for specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. However, the Parent View data on SEND support is too limited to draw conclusions. With 182 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, the school is not at full capacity, but the oversubscription figures suggest it is a popular choice for families who prioritise a strong sense of community and a wide range of enrichment activities over headline academic scores.

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