Darton Primary School

Darton Primary School is a safe, happy and welcoming school that is meeting expected standards across its inspected areas, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils attend well, behave with maturity and respect, and benefit from a well-sequenced curriculum, effective phonics and mathematics provision, strong inclusion work, and a wide range of personal development opportunities. Leadership and governance are strong, and leaders have a clear moral purpose and an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and development areas. The school has undergone significant change, joining HCAT in September 2025 and appointing a new head of school, and leaders have implemented a range of changes that are having a positive impact. Attainment has improved in recent years and is now broadly in line with national averages, while disadvantaged pupils’ attainment has also improved. Attendance is high and significantly above national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The main areas for development are ensuring teachers consistently check pupils’ learning and address misconceptions before moving on, and strengthening pupils’ knowledge in some parts of the personal development curriculum, such as world faiths and religions. Leaders should also continue refining inclusion systems so that opportunities and experiences for all pupils who face barriers to learning are consistently enhanced, and they are developing consistency in early years interactions.

Strengths

• Pupils are safe, happy and feel a strong sense of belonging at school.
• Attendance is high and significantly above national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Pupils behave with maturity and respect, and bullying is very rare.
• The Darton Directives have created a clear and consistent approach to behaviour.
• The curriculum is well sequenced and helps pupils build learning over time.
• Phonics teaching is effective for pupils at the early stages of reading.
• The mathematics curriculum supports problem-solving and reasoning.
• Leaders prioritise oracy and vocabulary, helping pupils articulate their learning.
• Inclusion systems identify pupils’ needs quickly and support generally effective progress.
• Leadership and governance are strong, with a clear moral purpose and effective trust support.
• The personal development programme is comprehensive and includes a wide range of clubs, trips and leadership roles.
• Early years has warm relationships and a well-sequenced curriculum with a strong focus on reading.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not always check pupils’ learning consistently, so some misconceptions are not identified before pupils move on.
• Pupils’ knowledge of some personal development areas, such as world faiths and religions, is more superficial than in other areas.
• The impact of the recently streamlined inclusion approach is not yet evident.
• Leaders should continue refining systems so that opportunities and experiences for all pupils facing barriers are consistently enhanced.
• Early years leaders are still developing consistent systems to ensure high-quality adult-child interactions across the provision.

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 Darton Primary School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.2% 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 Darton 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 Darton Primary School had 26.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 41.7% 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, 13.5% of pupils at Darton Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.3% 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 Darton Primary School received £6,669 and spent £6,346 for each of its 286 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £32,000 (£112 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Hcat, income was £7,867 and spending £7,746 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.

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• Secondary Schools

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

Darton Primary School is part of Hcat, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Mapplewell Primary School Barnsley
• Summer Lane Primary Barnsley
• Horizon Community College Barnsley
• Queens Road Academy Barnsley
• Worsbrough Common Primary School Barnsley
• Ward Green Primary School Barnsley
• The Mill Academy Barnsley
• Hoylandswaine Primary School Sheffield
• Birdwell Primary School Barnsley
• Milefield Primary School Barnsley

What is Darton Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Darton Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Darton Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Darton Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Darton Primary School have?

Darton Primary School has 297 pupils on roll.

What age range does Darton Primary School cover?

Darton Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Darton Primary School?

Darton Primary School is at Station Road, Darton, Barnsley South, South Yorkshire, S75 5AD.