Penny Acres Primary School

Penny Acres Primary School continues to demonstrate good performance overall, with pupils showcasing pride in their educational environment and strong relationships with peers and teachers. The school's commitment to a well-rounded personal, health and social education curriculum is reflected through pupils' understanding of safety and wellbeing. Although the leadership has effectively planned an ambitious curriculum that supports all students, some inconsistencies exist in the depth of the curriculum across various subjects, particularly in the foundation areas. The school has maintained high expectations for behaviour and academics, reinforcing a positive atmosphere for learning.

Strengths

• Pupils express great pride in their school.
• Teachers have high expectations and deliver lessons with skill and enthusiasm.
• The phonics curriculum is well structured, promoting early reading success.
• Provision for pupils with SEND is strong, with needs quickly identified and addressed.
• The curriculum includes rich extracurricular opportunities, including music and sports.
• Strong subject leadership in mathematics, art, and modern foreign languages.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistencies in the development of the curriculum in some foundation subjects.
• Subject leadership is not as strong in certain subjects compared to others.

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 Penny Acres Primary School attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.1% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Penny Acres 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 Penny Acres Primary School had 20.5 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, 6.8% of pupils at Penny Acres Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Penny Acres Primary School received £9,109 and spent £8,988 for each of its 59 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £33,000 (£564 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 Dronfield · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Penny Acres Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Penny Acres Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was Penny Acres Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Penny Acres Primary School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does Penny Acres Primary School have?

Penny Acres Primary School has 59 pupils on roll.

What age range does Penny Acres Primary School cover?

Penny Acres Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 88% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Penny Acres Primary School?

Penny Acres Primary School is at The Common, Holmesfield, Dronfield, Derbyshire, S18 7WP.