South Yorkshire continues to be home to plenty of primary schools with a strong track record of giving their young pupils a solid educational foundation.
The Government’s preliminary performance figures for state-funded primary schools were released last month, shortly after it published delayed performance figures for secondary schools. From this data, we’ve been able to compare how state primary schools across the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield council areas did in the most recent school year - to create a league table of South Yorkshire’s top performers.
The key figure it’s based on is the percentage of each school’s pupils who completed Year 6 in the 2023/24 academic year, who met the government’s expected standards in three key areas: reading, writing and maths. This has given some smaller village schools the chance to shine, as well as the larger city schools that made the list.
Each school included also had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had at least ‘good’ grades across the board. This means that the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management and student safeguarding were all found to meet or exceed government standards last time the school was inspected.
Here are the 17 schools from across South Yorkshire that stood out from the crowd in the last school year:
1. Crookesbroom Primary Academy
At the top of the list is Crookesbroom, a primary school in Hatfield, near Doncaster, with about 227 pupils. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 96% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 60% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
2. St Alban's CofE Primary School
St Alban’s is an Anglican primary school in Wickersley, in the Rotherham borough, with a roll size of about 249. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 96% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
3. Whiston Worrygoose Junior and Infant School
Whiston Worrygoose is a primary and nursery school in Whiston, near Rotherham, with about 235 pupils. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 87% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
4. Mundella Primary School
Mundella is a primary school in Sheffield, with a roll size of about 415. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 85% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 56% locally and 61% nationally. | Google