Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School
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Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School is a Church of England school (voluntary aided) in Huddersfield for boys and girls aged 4 to 10. It has 52 pupils and room for 72. About 6 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 57 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 50% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Goose Green, Upper Denby, Huddersfield, HD8 8UN01484 866511denbyfirstschool.kirklees.sch.ukMrs Lynsey Wagstaff headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 12 May 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1 December 2021 | Ungraded | School remains Good |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
About 7 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 16% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (10 offers for 10 places).
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (2), emotional and mental health (2), language and communications needs (2), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 52 | 53 | 58 | 57 | 63 | 70 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 6% | 6% | 2% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 11% | 14% | 14% | 13% | 14% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 4.0% | 4.4% | 5.4% | 6.5% | 3.1% | 2.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.0% | 3.7% | 4.2% | 5.6% | 2.9% | 2.0% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.1% | 0.7% | 1.2% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 0.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 6.1% | 8.3% | 10.4% | 11.1% | 3.5% | 3.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denby Dale First and Nursery School | Council | 1.4 miles | 112 | Good 2023 | 61 | Compare |
| Cumberworth CofE First School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 107 | No overall grade 2024 | – | Compare |
| Birdsedge First School | Academy | 1.5 miles | 59 | Good 2022 | 40 | Compare |
| St Aidan's Church of England Academy | Academy | 2.0 miles | 137 | No overall grade 2025 | 78 | Compare |
| Thurlstone Primary School | Council | 2.2 miles | 182 | Good 2023 | 44 | Compare |
| Skelmanthorpe Academy | Academy | 2.3 miles | 124 | Good 2020 | 76 | Compare |
| Hoylandswaine Primary School | Academy | 2.4 miles | 94 | Inadequate 2022 | 84 | Compare |
| Millhouse Primary School | Council | 2.5 miles | 100 | Good 2023 | 70 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School with the 44 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 44 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 57 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 57% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 27 to 82. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | below | -0.19 | Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | +0.07 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.20 | 2024/25; 49 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School a good school?
It is about average. Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School scores 57 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 50% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 27 to 82, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 12 May 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School have?
52 pupils aged 4 to 10 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 72 places, so it is 72% full.
Is Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 7 places were empty in 2024/25 (12% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School?
Pupils were in school 96.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 6% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School?
The average class had 17.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Goose Green, Upper Denby, Huddersfield, HD8 8UN
- Telephone
- 01484 866511
- Website
- www.denbyfirstschool.kirklees.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lynsey Wagstaff
- Type of school
- Church of England school (voluntary aided) (Voluntary aided school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-10
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Leeds (ce)
- Local authority
- Kirklees
- Ward
- Denby Dale
- Constituency
- Ossett and Denby Dale
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 107742 · LAESTAB 3823326 · UKPRN 10068722
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Kirklees council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2024, 2025, 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.