Duffield the Meadows Primary School

Duffield the Meadows is a caring, community primary school where pupils are safe, happy and behave well. Parents speak highly of the warm welcome and the high expectations staff set, and pupils respond with positive attitudes and good manners. The inspection found the school performing well across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision, with safeguarding effective. Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs and leadership roles, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are accurately identified, fully included and achieve well. Reading and phonics are particular strengths. The main area for development is the depth of pupils’ learning beyond the core subjects. The curriculum sets out what pupils should learn and is taught by knowledgeable staff, but implementation does not consistently help pupils retain knowledge, connect it with previous learning or understand the distinctiveness of different subjects. In the early years, the curriculum is well structured, though some activities do not deepen children’s understanding as much as they could. Teachers use questioning well but are not always quick to adapt when pupils need to move on or revisit a concept. Leaders and governors know the school well and have managed the significant disruption caused by the October 2023 flood, during which pupils were educated off site until April 2024. Staff value the support they receive, and the school has maintained a positive culture and effective safeguarding arrangements throughout.

Strengths

• Warm, caring school with strong parental support and positive pupil behaviour.
• Pupils are safe, happy and demonstrate good manners and strong attitudes to learning.
• Personal development is enhanced by a wide range of clubs and leadership roles.
• Ambitious curriculum with knowledgeable teachers and effective use of resources.
• Strong phonics and early reading, including good support for pupils with SEND.
• Pupils with SEND are accurately identified, fully included and achieve well.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.
• Knowledgeable governors and supportive leadership; staff value training and workload consideration.
• School successfully navigated significant flood disruption and maintained support for pupils.
• Early years curriculum is well structured and lays firm foundations for learning.
• Pupils understand modern Britain, protected characteristics, online safety and reject discrimination.
• Teachers explain vocabulary clearly and use precise questioning to check understanding.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation does not consistently secure depth of understanding over time.
• Some pupils struggle to retain taught knowledge and make connections with prior learning.
• Some pupils do not understand the distinctiveness of different subjects.
• In early years, some activities do not deepen children’s understanding as much as they could.
• Staff are not always agile in using checks of pupils’ understanding to move learning on or revisit concepts appropriately.
• Opportunities to deepen understanding or reinforce new knowledge are sometimes missed.
• Some pupils may revisit learning unnecessarily or gain misconceptions.

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 Duffield the Meadows Primary School attended 96.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.3% 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 Duffield the Meadows 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 Duffield the Meadows Primary School had 22.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 26.2% 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, 7.7% of pupils at Duffield the Meadows Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.0% 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 Duffield the Meadows Primary School received £6,952 and spent £7,058 for each of its 260 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £230,000 (£884 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 Belper · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Duffield the Meadows Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Duffield the Meadows Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Duffield the Meadows Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Duffield the Meadows Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Duffield the Meadows Primary School have?

Duffield the Meadows Primary School has 260 pupils on roll.

What age range does Duffield the Meadows Primary School cover?

Duffield the Meadows Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Duffield the Meadows Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Duffield the Meadows Primary School?

Duffield the Meadows Primary School is at Park Road, Belper, DE56 4GT.