Thornhill Primary School

Thornhill Primary School is performing well overall, with all inspected areas rated as good. The school has created a caring environment where pupils feel safe and supported, evidenced by their positive behavior and polite demeanor. Leaders have high expectations and have made strides in improving the curriculum and supporting pupils who speak English as an additional language. There is strong community engagement, and the school fosters a love of reading among its students. Despite these strengths, there remain areas for improvement, particularly in ensuring that phonics teaching matches pupils' learning stages to enhance their reading skills.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and supported in a caring school environment.
• High expectations set by leaders for pupil achievement.
• Effective support for pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• Strong community engagement through events and partnerships.
• Wide range of after-school clubs encouraging talent exploration.
• Pupils demonstrate clear understanding of what they have learned.
• Positive measures in place for supporting SEND pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Phonics teaching does not consistently match pupils' stages in learning.
• Curriculum plans in some subjects do not set out specific disciplinary knowledge.

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 Thornhill Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.2% 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, 2.7% of pupils at Thornhill 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 Thornhill Primary School had 22.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 11.7% of pupils at Thornhill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Thornhill Primary School received £8,592 and spent £8,795 for each of its 311 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £251,000 (£807 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 Rotherham · Rotherham local authority: places and applications

What is Thornhill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thornhill Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was Thornhill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thornhill Primary School was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does Thornhill Primary School have?

Thornhill Primary School has 316 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thornhill Primary School cover?

Thornhill Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Thornhill Primary School?

Thornhill Primary School is at Clough Bank, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S61 1TD.