Joseph Locke Primary School

Joseph Locke Primary School continues to demonstrate good performance, fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment that supports positive relationships among pupils and staff. The school excels in providing a well-rounded education, including a strong focus on early reading and an ambitious curriculum that encourages creativity and critical thinking. Pupils are engaged in various enrichment activities that further their personal development, and the commitment to supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is a notable strength. However, there is a recognition that the reading curriculum beyond phonics needs additional rigor to ensure that all pupils, particularly the most able, reach their full potential in reading fluency and comprehension.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud to attend the school and feel safe.
• Positive relationships between adults and pupils enhance the school community.
• The curriculum is well-designed and ambitious, meeting the needs of all pupils.
• Early years provision is strong, enabling children to start their education successfully.
• Support for pupils with SEND is effective and allows for academic success.
• Mathematics teaching is proficient, ensuring strong conceptual understanding.
• Pupils participate actively in leadership roles and decision-making.
• Attendance strategies have positively impacted pupil attendance rates.

Areas for Improvement

• Reading curriculum beyond phonics lacks rigor, impacting progress in reading for some pupils.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Joseph Locke Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.8% of pupils at Joseph Locke Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Joseph Locke Primary School had 20.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 19.2% of pupils at Joseph Locke Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Joseph Locke Primary School received £7,746 and spent £7,872 for each of its 436 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £50,000 (£114 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Barnsley · Barnsley local authority: places and applications

What is Joseph Locke Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Joseph Locke Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was Joseph Locke Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Joseph Locke Primary School was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Joseph Locke Primary School have?

Joseph Locke Primary School has 449 pupils on roll.

What age range does Joseph Locke Primary School cover?

Joseph Locke Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Joseph Locke Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 75% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Joseph Locke Primary School?

Joseph Locke Primary School is at Shaw Street, Joseph Locke Primary School, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 6JL.