Gooseacre Primary Academy

Gooseacre Primary Academy is a warm and welcoming community school where pupils behave well, feel safe and are committed learners. Inspectors found an ambitious, broad and vocabulary-rich curriculum, strong early reading provision, quick identification of SEND needs, a thriving early years and effective safeguarding. Leadership, governors and trustees have a detailed understanding of the school’s performance, and staff are generally positive about recent curriculum changes and well-being support. The main areas for improvement are attendance and early writing. Persistent absence remains too high for some groups of pupils, meaning they miss important learning and wider opportunities. Some pupils in the early stages of learning to write are moved on before they have securely understood spelling and grammar rules, which can lead to inaccurate punctuation in their writing. The school is part of Astrea Academy Trust and was previously graded good.

Strengths

• Warm and welcoming school at the heart of the community
• Pupils are polite, courteous and committed learners
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, with little interruption to learning
• Positive relationships help pupils feel safe and cared for
• Bullying is very rare and dealt with quickly when it occurs
• Curriculum is ambitious, broad and exciting
• Vocabulary is emphasised strongly across the curriculum
• Pupils with SEND are quickly identified and well supported
• Reading is a high priority, with effective phonics support
• Most pupils become fluent readers by the end of key stage 1
• Early years provision is highly skilled and gives children a secure foundation
• Personal development helps pupils understand British values and diversity
• Governors and trustees have a detailed understanding of school performance
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Persistent absence remains too high for some groups of pupils
• Some early writers are moved on before spelling and grammar rules are secure
• Some pupils’ writing can be punctuated incorrectly
• Pupils with persistent absence miss important learning and wider opportunities

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 Gooseacre Primary Academy attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.4% 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, 0.3% of pupils at Gooseacre Primary Academy 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 Gooseacre Primary Academy had 23.9 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, 17.7% of pupils at Gooseacre Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.6% 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 2024–25 Gooseacre Primary Academy received £6,955 and spent £7,034 for each of its 334 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £117,000 (£350 per pupil).

Across all 26 schools of Astrea Academy Trust, income was £8,290 and spending £8,206 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

Gooseacre Primary Academy is part of Astrea Academy Trust, which runs 26 schools. The nearest others:

• The Hill Primary Academy Rotherham
• Highgate Primary Academy Rotherham
• Astrea Academy Dearne Rotherham
• Carrfield Primary Academy Rotherham
• Netherwood Academy Barnsley
• Denaby Main Primary Academy Doncaster
• Castle Academy Doncaster
• Waverley Academy Doncaster
• Hexthorpe Primary School Doncaster
• Atlas Academy Doncaster

What is Gooseacre Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Gooseacre Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Gooseacre Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Gooseacre Primary Academy was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Gooseacre Primary Academy have?

Gooseacre Primary Academy has 378 pupils on roll.

What age range does Gooseacre Primary Academy cover?

Gooseacre Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Gooseacre Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Gooseacre Primary Academy?

Gooseacre Primary Academy is at Gooseacre Avenue, Off Merrill Road, Thurnscoe, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S63 0NU.