Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy

All areas of the school's work currently meet the expected standard, and safeguarding is met. Dodworth St John the Baptist is a small Church of England primary that has been through a period of turbulence but is now stable after joining Enhance Academy Trust in September 2025. Leaders, governors and trust colleagues know the school well, and staff feel supported. Pupils are happy and safe, behave well, attend more regularly and benefit from a broad, well-planned curriculum and a caring pastoral offer. The school's main strengths are in behaviour and attendance, early years, inclusion and personal development. Persistent absence has fallen sharply, pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are supported to learn alongside their peers, and the curriculum has been reorganised successfully for mixed-age classes. Reading, writing and mathematics foundations are secure, and pupils achieve well from their starting points. The main areas for development are teaching adaptation in a small number of mixed-age classes and checking prior knowledge before introducing too much new information. Historical national test outcomes for disadvantaged pupils have lagged behind national averages, and reading attainment in 2024/25 was below national, although current pupils' work and progress are strong. Leaders are already working on these priorities and are advised to continue building on recent improvements.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and feel a strong sense of belonging.
• Behaviour is positive, with pupils kind to each other and trusting staff to deal with poor behaviour.
• Persistent absence has fallen sharply across all pupil groups, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• The curriculum has been successfully reorganised for mixed-age classes and is taught effectively.
• Pupils build secure foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, with improved phonics and multiplication outcomes.
• Teachers check understanding regularly and correct misconceptions quickly.
• Staff receive timely, effective professional development, including well-planned trust support.
• Pupils with SEND are identified early and supported well to learn alongside their peers.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from effective use of pupil premium and make considerable progress.
• Early years provision is ambitious, caring and helps children settle quickly and build solid foundations.
• Personal development is well planned, including safety education, British values, clubs and leadership roles.
• Governance and trust leaders know the school well and hold leaders to account effectively.
• Staff feel valued and supported, and leaders are mindful of workload and wellbeing.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about relationships, pastoral support and the education their children receive.
• Safeguarding has an open and positive culture, and pupils feel safe and know how to stay safe online.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects and classes, teachers do not adapt lessons well enough for mixed ages.
• Teaching does not always take sufficient account of pupils' gaps in prior knowledge.
• Learning occasionally slows when teachers give too much new information at once.
• Leaders should continue to support staff in making appropriate teaching choices and adaptations for mixed-age classes.
• Historical national test outcomes for disadvantaged pupils have been below national averages.
• Reading attainment in 2024/25 was below the national average.
• Leaders should build on recent improvements so pupils continue to attain highly in national tests over time.
• Early years staff are still working to make the most of every interaction with children throughout the day.

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 Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.7% 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, 3.4% of pupils at Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE 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 Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy had 21.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.3% 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, 14.4% of pupils at Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy received £8,296 and spent £9,643 for each of its 115 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £9,000 (£75 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of Enhance Academy Trust, income was £7,136 and spending £7,057 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 Barnsley · Barnsley local authority: places and applications

Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy is part of Enhance Academy Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Barnsley Barnsley
• Royston St John Baptist CE Primary Barnsley
• St Helen's CE Primary School Pontefract
• Horbury Bridge Church of England Junior and Infant Academy Wakefield
• Sandal Magna Community Academy Wakefield
• Highburton CofE First Academy Huddersfield
• St Michael's CofE Academy Wakefield
• Overthorpe CofE Academy Dewsbury
• CAPA College Wakefield
• Lepton CofE Primary Academy Huddersfield

What is Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy have?

Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy has 104 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy cover?

Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy?

Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy is at Barnsley Road, Dodworth, Dodworth St John the Baptist Ce Primary Academy, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 3JS.