Abbeyfield Primary Academy

Abbeyfield Primary Academy is a caring, inclusive school where pupils feel happy and safe and relationships are strong. Inspectors found the school performing well across its judged areas, with reading at the heart of the curriculum, a broad and ambitious curriculum, effective support for pupils with SEND, and positive behaviour. Pupils benefit from strong personal development, a wide range of free enrichment, and effective safeguarding. Leadership, trust and governance are strong, and staff are positive about the support and training they receive. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is part of Five Rivers Multi Academy Trust. There are still important areas to improve. Some early years interactions are not consistently purposeful, so children’s communication and language progress varies. Attendance and punctuality remain stubbornly low for some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, meaning they miss important learning. Assessment in some subjects does not identify gaps precisely enough, so pupils’ learning does not always build on what they already know. Provisional 2024 outcomes also showed weak mathematics attainment at key stage 2 and a low Year 1 phonics screening pass rate, in a context of high pupil mobility and many pupils joining with little or no spoken English.

Strengths

• Reading is central to the curriculum, with expert phonics teaching and a vibrant library.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with clear sequencing and strong subject knowledge.
• Pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.
• There is a strong focus on vocabulary, language and communication to support pupils with English as an additional language.
• Pupils behave well, are courteous and eager to learn, and the revised behaviour policy is applied consistently.
• Personal development is strong, including PSHE, oracy, safety education and preparation for life in modern Britain.
• An extensive range of free extra-curricular activities and educational visits benefits pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils.
• Leadership, trust and governance are skilled and share a strong vision; staff value investment in their development.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some early years adult-child interactions lack focus, limiting children’s communication and language progress.
• Attendance and punctuality remain too low for some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils.
• Assessment in some subjects does not identify gaps precisely enough to inform future teaching.
• Provisional 2024 outcomes showed weak mathematics attainment at key stage 2 and a low Year 1 phonics screening pass rate.

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 Abbeyfield Primary Academy attended 89.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 35.6% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Abbeyfield 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 Abbeyfield Primary Academy had 18.3 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, 19.8% of pupils at Abbeyfield Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.8% 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 Abbeyfield Primary Academy received £7,493 and spent £7,458 for each of its 430 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £253,000 (£590 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Five Rivers Multi Academy Trust, income was £6,965 and spending £7,189 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 Sheffield · Sheffield local authority: places and applications

Abbeyfield Primary Academy is part of Five Rivers Multi Academy Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Tinsley Meadows Primary School Sheffield

What is Abbeyfield Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Abbeyfield Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Abbeyfield Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Abbeyfield Primary Academy was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Abbeyfield Primary Academy have?

Abbeyfield Primary Academy has 429 pupils on roll.

What age range does Abbeyfield Primary Academy cover?

Abbeyfield Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is Abbeyfield Primary Academy?

Abbeyfield Primary Academy is at Orphanage Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 9AN.