Denby Free CofE VA Primary School

Denby Free CofE VA Primary School is a small Church of England primary that has settled after a turbulent period following its last inspection. New leadership, including a headteacher appointed in September 2024, has provided clear direction, and staff morale is high. Safeguarding standards are met. The school is fulfilling expected standards in attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. However, achievement and curriculum and teaching require further work, so the overall picture is mixed rather than uniformly strong. The school's strengths include a happy, safe and inclusive culture, strong relationships, calm and respectful behaviour, close-to-average attendance with low persistent absence, and effective early years provision. Reading is a consistent strength, personal development is well planned, and leaders have improved support for vulnerable pupils and pupils with SEND. Parents are overwhelmingly positive, and governors provide effective support and challenge. The main concerns are inconsistent curriculum delivery, particularly an incoherent mathematics curriculum that does not build well on early years foundations, and teaching that does not always take account of pupils' starting points or address gaps in spelling, handwriting and mathematics. Some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, have large gaps in knowledge and are not as well prepared for the next stage as they should be. SEND support and emotional regulation strategies are not yet consistently embedded. Leaders know what needs to improve and are working with external mathematics support, but the impact is not yet evident.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Pupils are happy, safe and show a secure sense of belonging and loyalty to the school.
• Attendance is close to the national average and persistent absence is low, with improving disadvantaged attendance.
• Pupils behave well, show positive attitudes to learning and relationships are kind and respectful.
• Early years provision is a priority and children make a sound start, especially in phonics and early mathematics.
• The school has a highly inclusive culture and supports vulnerable pupils and pupils with SEND to access the curriculum and school life.
• Leadership has stabilised the school after turbulence, provides clear direction and maintains high staff morale.
• Governors understand their responsibilities and provide effective support and challenge, including robust safeguarding oversight.
• Personal development and wellbeing are at the heart of the school, with an extensive programme of enrichment and pastoral support.
• Reading is a consistent strength, with effective phonics teaching helping pupils become fluent readers.
• Pupils with SEND typically make suitable progress.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive and describe the school as a family at the heart of the community.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement requires attention because pupils' curriculum experiences are inconsistent, which slows progress.
• The mathematics curriculum lacks coherence and does not build well on the secure foundations children gain in the early years.
• Teaching expectations are not fully embedded, and staff do not consistently consider pupils' starting points and age-related needs.
• Assessment and feedback do not consistently address gaps, misconceptions and inaccuracies in spelling, handwriting and mathematics.
• Some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, have large gaps in knowledge and are not as well prepared for the next stage of education as they should be.
• Support for pupils with SEND is occasionally inconsistent because new systems and training are not fully embedded.
• Staff do not always apply personalised emotional regulation strategies consistently, which can hinder some pupils' learning.
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined outcomes and mathematics outcomes remain well below national non-disadvantaged averages, with large gaps.

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 Denby Free CofE VA Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.8% 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, 1.7% of pupils at Denby Free CofE VA 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 Denby Free CofE VA Primary School had 15.8 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, 18.6% of pupils at Denby Free CofE VA Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.5% 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 Denby Free CofE VA Primary School received £7,297 and spent £7,584 for each of its 113 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £23,000 (-£201 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 Ripley · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Denby Free CofE VA Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Denby Free CofE VA Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Denby Free CofE VA Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Denby Free CofE VA Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Denby Free CofE VA Primary School have?

Denby Free CofE VA Primary School has 113 pupils on roll.

What age range does Denby Free CofE VA Primary School cover?

Denby Free CofE VA Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Denby Free CofE VA Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 80% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Denby Free CofE VA Primary School?

Denby Free CofE VA Primary School is at Church Street, Denby Village, Ripley, Derbyshire, DE5 8PH.