Shirland Primary School

About Shirland Primary School

Shirland Primary School is a state-funded mixed primary in the Derbyshire local authority, serving 175 pupils aged 5 to 11 in North East Derbyshire. Within the same LA, it sits among 353 primary schools, and its closest top-performing peers — Wessington Primary, Redhill Primary, and Longford CofE Primary — all share the maximum ranking score of 100. Shirland itself holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across both its most recent inspection in February 2024 and its previous one in 2013. The school is not among the nine outstanding primaries in Derbyshire; the nearest outstanding school, The Green Flying High Academy, is 4.2 kilometres away. With a capacity of 200 and a current roll of 175, the school has some room to grow, though it is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, 50 applications were received for 28 places, with 25 first-preference offers made.

Academically, Shirland Primary’s most recent Ofsted report rates every inspected category as Good, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, early years provision, and leadership and management. The school does not publish Key Stage 2 SATs results in the available data, so it is not possible to compare its performance against the Derbyshire LA average of 59 for KS2 attainment. However, the consistency of Good grades across all Ofsted domains suggests a stable and effective learning environment. The school serves a community with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals — 38.9% — which is well above the national average and indicates a significant level of disadvantage. The previous inspection in 2013 also awarded Good overall, so the school has sustained its quality over more than a decade.

Shirland Primary offers a broad range of facilities including a library, playing fields, a forest school, art studios, a sports hall, an ICT suite, a gymnasium, a dining hall, and a chapel. Sports provision includes netball, tennis, cross country, athletics, swimming, rounders, and cricket, while clubs such as gardening, film club, art club, eco club, and choir extend the day. The school has identified SEND provisions for moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, and speech language and communication needs. With an oversubscription ratio of 1.79, the school is in demand but not unreachable for local families. It is a good fit for parents seeking a well-rated, community-focused primary with strong outdoor and creative enrichment, particularly those who value a forest school and a wide club programme.

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