Croft Church of England Primary School

Croft Church of England Primary School has undergone its first routine inspection since becoming an academy and has been rated as good overall. The report highlights a positive learning environment where staff show genuine care for pupils, who in turn display exemplary behaviour and have strong attitudes towards their learning. The school's Christian ethos is a significant part of its identity, focusing on raising independent, respectful, and persevering individuals. There are effective uses of digital technology, especially in assisting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), ensuring their learning is tailored to their needs.

Strengths

• Positive learning environment with exemplary behaviour
• Strong pastoral support promoting mental health
• Effective use of digital devices in learning
• Inclusive leadership opportunities for pupils
• Ambitious curriculum with structured phonics and mathematics programs

Areas for Improvement

• Essential knowledge not identified in some subjects for long-term memory retention

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 Croft Church of England Primary School attended 96.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.7% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Croft Church of England 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 Croft Church of England Primary School had 20.5 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, 9.4% of pupils at Croft Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Croft Church of England Primary School received £7,432 and spent £7,069 for each of its 107 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £131,000 (£1,229 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of Dales Academies Trust, income was £7,522 and spending £7,432 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 Darlington · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

Croft Church of England Primary School is part of Dales Academies Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Barton Church of England Primary School Richmond
• Middleton Tyas Church of England Primary School Richmond
• East Cowton Church of England Primary School Northallerton
• Great Smeaton Academy Primary School Northallerton
• Eppleby Forcett Church of England Primary School Richmond
• Trinity Academy Richmond Richmond
• Ravensworth Church of England Primary School Richmond
• All Saints Church of England Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• Oakbridge Church of England Primary School Northallerton
• Carnagill Community Primary School Catterick Garrison

What is Croft Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Croft Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2022.

When was Croft Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Croft Church of England Primary School was last inspected in September 2022.

How many pupils does Croft Church of England Primary School have?

Croft Church of England Primary School has 117 pupils on roll.

What age range does Croft Church of England Primary School cover?

Croft Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Croft Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 92% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Croft Church of England Primary School?

Croft Church of England Primary School is at South Parade, Croft-on-Tees, Darlington, County Durham, DL2 2SP.