Acres Hill Community Primary School

Acres Hill Community Primary School is an inclusive and welcoming school where pupils are proud to attend and where personal development and early years provision are strong. Reading is a high priority, with phonics beginning in the early years and extra support for pupils who struggle, while the integrated resource known as The Pride supports pupils with the highest levels of SEND exceptionally well. Pupils benefit from a wide range of broader experiences, community events and opportunities to learn about equality and respect, and safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management require improvement. Curriculum changes are underway but are not complete in all subjects, meaning essential knowledge is not always clearly identified and pupils' understanding does not deepen consistently. Support for pupils with SEND outside The Pride is inconsistent, and curriculum adaptations do not always match what pupils need to learn next. Behaviour expectations are not applied consistently in lessons, so low-level disruption sometimes interrupts learning. High expectations are not yet realised at the end of key stage 2, and improvements in reading have not yet had time to affect published outcomes for older pupils. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its previous inspection grade was good. The school is part of the Sheffield South East Trust, which has an accurate view of its performance and is providing targeted support, and the headteacher was appointed in September 2022. Staff are generally happy and feel leaders consider their workload and well-being.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud, happy and describe their school as an inclusive place to be.
• The Pride provides exceptionally well-supported provision for pupils with the highest levels of SEND.
• Early years provision is strong, with high expectations and effective support for speech and language development.
• Reading is a high priority, with phonics starting in the early years and extra help for pupils who struggle.
• Personal development is good, with broad experiences, charity work, a school council and education about equality and respect.
• The school builds positive relationships with parents and is an important part of the local community.
• Staff are generally happy, feel their workload and well-being are considered, and are consulted on curriculum changes.
• Governance and the trust know the school well and provide targeted support.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum key knowledge and skills are not clearly identified in some subjects, leading to gaps in pupils' understanding.
• Support and curriculum adaptations for some pupils with SEND are inconsistent and can be too easy or too hard.
• Behaviour expectations and the school's behaviour approach are not applied consistently in lessons, causing low-level disruption.
• High expectations for achievement are not yet realised by the end of key stage 2.
• Improvements in reading have not yet affected published outcomes for older pupils.

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 Acres Hill Community Primary School attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.5% 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, 4.3% of pupils at Acres Hill Community 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 Acres Hill Community Primary School had 17.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 40.0% 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, 22.5% of pupils at Acres Hill Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 1 pupil.

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 Acres Hill Community Primary School received £8,408 and spent £8,901 for each of its 225 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £31,000 (£139 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Sheffield South East Trust, income was £7,381 and spending £7,615 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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All schools in Sheffield · Sheffield local authority: places and applications

Acres Hill Community Primary School is part of Sheffield South East Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Phillimore Community Primary School Sheffield
• Wybourn Community Primary & Nursery School Sheffield
• Manor Lodge Community Primary and Nursery School Sheffield
• Norfolk Community Primary School Sheffield
• Gleadless Primary School Sheffield
• Woodhouse West Primary School Sheffield

What is Acres Hill Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Acres Hill Community Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in February 2025.

When was Acres Hill Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Acres Hill Community Primary School was last inspected in February 2025.

How many pupils does Acres Hill Community Primary School have?

Acres Hill Community Primary School has 213 pupils on roll.

What age range does Acres Hill Community Primary School cover?

Acres Hill Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Acres Hill Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Acres Hill Community Primary School?

Acres Hill Community Primary School is at Mather Road, Littledale, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S9 4GQ.