Ferham Primary School

Ferham Primary is a friendly, welcoming and caring school where pupils feel safe, form strong relationships and show respect and kindness. The curriculum has been substantially redesigned and is well structured, with clear progression, a strong reading culture and effective support for pupils with SEND. Personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision are strong, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. However, the impact of the curriculum changes is not yet reflected in published outcomes, and attendance is a significant concern, with too many pupils persistently absent. Behaviour and attitudes require improvement despite a calm environment and generally good conduct. The school is part of the James Montgomery Academy Trust and was inspected for the first time under section 5; its predecessor was judged inadequate. Leaders understand the school’s priorities and are taking action, but it is too early to see the full impact of this work.

Strengths

• Friendly, welcoming and caring school where pupils feel safe.
• Strong relationships among pupils and staff, with respect and kindness.
• Well-structured curriculum with clear progression and diverse content.
• Strong reading culture with book clubs, a reading room and structured phonics.
• Effective identification and support for pupils with SEND.
• Good personal development through life skills, pupil jobs, career activities and clubs.
• Calm learning environment with generally good pupil behaviour.
• Good early years provision with routines, language support and parent workshops.
• Effective leadership with clear priorities and supported staff.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance is below national levels and too many pupils are persistently absent.
• Published outcomes do not yet reflect the improvements made to the curriculum.
• Assessment in some foundation subjects is inconsistent for identifying gaps.
• Some pupils are not forming good attendance habits and miss important learning.
• Curriculum changes have not yet had time to affect historic outcomes.
• The school needs a more consistent approach to identifying and addressing gaps in foundation subjects.

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 Ferham Primary School attended 88.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 47.3% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Ferham 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 Ferham Primary School had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.9% 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, 27.6% of pupils at Ferham Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 Ferham Primary School received £9,245 and spent £8,618 for each of its 223 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £180,000 (£809 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of James Montgomery Academy Trust, income was £6,982 and spending £6,835 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 Rotherham · Rotherham local authority: places and applications

Ferham Primary School is part of James Montgomery Academy Trust, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Meadow View Primary School Rotherham
• St Ann's Primary School Rotherham
• Brinsworth Howarth Primary School Rotherham
• Bramley Sunnyside Junior School Rotherham
• Wath Central Primary School Rotherham
• Brampton Ellis CofE Primary School Rotherham
• Highfield Farm Primary School Rotherham
• Wath Church of England Primary School Rotherham
• Wath Victoria Primary School Rotherham
• Thurcroft Infant School Rotherham

What is Ferham Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ferham Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Ferham Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ferham Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Ferham Primary School have?

Ferham Primary School has 228 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ferham Primary School cover?

Ferham Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 13% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ferham Primary School?

Ferham Primary School is at Ferham Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S61 1AP.