Morton Primary Academy Review 2026: Small village primary with standout KS2 outcomes

A village primary with a deliberately small feel, a capacity of 104 pupils, and a clear focus on routines, safety, and high expectations. In 2024, 92% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, well above the England average of 62%. The higher standard figure is striking too, 37.67% reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths, compared with 8% across England. The school’s FindMySchool ranking sits well above average in England, placing it in the top 10% (based on official data).

Leadership is anchored by Miss Jackson, listed as headteacher, and also named as the senior safeguarding lead. The values framework is unusually memorable, CARDS, covering Considerate, Aspirational, Responsible, Determined and Safe, and it shows up repeatedly across the site’s parent-facing messaging.

Ofsted has not yet published an inspection report for the current academy URN.

This is a school that trades scale for familiarity. With a published capacity of 104, it is the sort of place where adults know pupils and families quickly, and where consistent expectations matter because pupils see the same staff in many different contexts across the week. That small setting can be a real advantage for children who thrive on predictable relationships and a tight-knit routine, especially in the jump from early years into key stage 2.

The school’s identity is framed very explicitly around community. Its own tagline, “at the heart of our community”, is used as a shorthand for priorities such as welcome, belonging, and shared responsibility. The CARDS values (Considerate, Aspirational, Responsible, Determined, Safe) give staff and pupils a common language for behaviour and choices. In practice, that values language matters most when it is used in simple, repeatable ways, and CARDS is exactly that: short, concrete, and easy for younger pupils to internalise.

Safeguarding messaging is direct and detailed, including the named safeguarding roles: Miss Jackson as senior safeguarding lead, Miss Allen as deputy safeguarding lead, and a trust safeguarding lead. That clarity is helpful for parents, because it reduces the “who do I speak to” friction when something small needs addressing early.

The school day is structured around clear gates and register times. Gates open at 8.40 and register is taken at 8.50. Reception children leave at 3.10 and the rest of the school at 3.15. For families, that slightly earlier end for Reception can be a practical consideration, especially when coordinating siblings or wraparound care.

The headline story is key stage 2 outcomes. In 2024, 92% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined. The England average in the same measure is 62%. Alongside that, 37.67% reached the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics, compared with 8% across England.

The scaled scores are also strong: reading 109, mathematics 109, and grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) 111. Taken together, those scores suggest consistently high attainment across the tested core areas rather than a single spike in one subject.

The school’s FindMySchool ranking for primary outcomes is 559th in England, and 2nd locally (Alfreton area). That places it well above England average, within the top 10% of primaries in England on this measure. These are FindMySchool rankings based on official attainment data, designed for like-for-like comparisons.

A useful way to interpret this for parents is reliability: it is not just that a high proportion reach the expected standard, but that a sizeable group are reaching the higher standard too. In a small primary, the higher standard figure often depends on whether the most able pupils are pushed beyond “secure” work and into genuinely challenging reading, reasoning and writing tasks. Here, the numbers indicate that is happening, at least at the end of key stage 2.

The school also publishes a KS2 results snapshot for July 2024, including 88% at expected standard in reading, 100% in maths, and 100% in GPS, alongside greater depth figures such as 44% in reading and 50% in maths. (These figures are presented on the school website, while the ranking and the core combined measures above are from the FindMySchool dataset.)

A small school has to be intentional about curriculum sequencing, partly because mixed-age teaching structures are common, and partly because staff cover a wider span of subjects. The curriculum messaging emphasises a broad and balanced offer, with explicit attention to diversity and the wider world, framed through the school’s CARDS values.

The class pages give a more tangible sense of what learning looks like week to week. In Hazel Class (Years 5 and 6), pupils study evolution and inheritance, use micro:bits for computing simulations, and cover topics such as bridge-building in design and technology. Spanish features too, with a focus on character descriptions. For families, this matters because it signals breadth, not just in topic labels, but in the tools pupils use and the kinds of outcomes expected (for example, computational thinking alongside writing and practical design).

In Maple Class (Years 3 and 4), the topic “Memories of Morton” explicitly uses the local area as content, including named local features and a comparison of the past and present, with reference points such as Morton’s shift from farming and changes linked to the colliery. That local anchoring is often a good marker of engagement, pupils tend to write and talk more fluently when the content connects to something they recognise and can revisit outside school.

In Sycamore Class (Years 1 and 2), history is taught through “London’s Burning”, exploring the Great Fire of London using stories and Samuel Pepys’ diary, alongside science content on everyday materials. For younger pupils, those classic narrative hooks can be effective, especially when writing tasks are tied to a single shared story-world.

The school also signals a strong interest in reading practice at home, including calls for volunteers to hear children read. In a primary with ambitious outcomes, reading fluency is usually a foundational priority, because it drives access to the wider curriculum.

As a primary school (ages 5 to 11), the key transition is into Year 7. Admissions for secondary transfer are coordinated by the local authority, and families usually choose across the local comprehensive options within reasonable travel distance, depending on their address and the year’s oversubscription patterns.

What matters most for parents is practical preparation. In a small school, transition can be personalised, but it also depends on how early pupils are encouraged to manage independence skills: organising equipment, following timetables, and coping with less adult direction. The curriculum details on the class pages suggest pupils are regularly asked to work across different modes (research, practical projects, computing tasks), which can help with secondary readiness.

If you are shortlisting secondaries, it is worth using FindMySchool’s Local Hub pages and the Comparison Tool to look at likely destination schools side-by-side, including outcomes and demand indicators, before you commit to a property move or a long commute.

Admissions are coordinated with Derbyshire County Council. For Reception entry for September 2026, Derbyshire’s published timetable states that applications open on 10 November 2025, the closing date is midnight on 15 January 2026, and offers are released on 16 April 2026.

Demand is meaningful given the school’s scale. Recent admissions data shows 30 applications for 12 offers, indicating oversubscription, with a subscription ratio of 2.5 applications per offer. In small schools, a relatively modest shift in local birth cohorts or housing can change the pattern quickly, so treat any single year as indicative rather than guaranteed.

The last distance offered is not published for this school, so families should focus on the published oversubscription criteria and confirm how distance is measured by the local authority. A map-based distance checker (such as FindMySchoolMap Search) is a sensible way to sanity-check your address against the school gate before relying on a place.

The school welcomes visits throughout the year and invites parents considering the school to arrange an appointment.

Pastoral strength in a primary is usually about consistency: clear routines, predictable adult responses, and early intervention when a worry starts to build. The safeguarding page strongly emphasises a culture where pupils can talk to any member of staff, and it sets out the named safeguarding roles clearly.

The school also makes its SEND leadership visible, naming Miss Allen as the SEND lead and pointing families towards the SEND information report and related documents. For parents, that transparency is a practical advantage, it reduces delays in getting the right conversation started if a child needs additional support.

Attendance expectations are set at 96% on the attendance page. That is consistent with a school positioning itself as ambitious. For families, it is worth being realistic about how that fits with work patterns, medical appointments, and the occasional tough winter term.

In a small primary, extracurricular life often looks different from a large suburban school with dozens of separate clubs. Here, the most distinctive “extra” is how the school uses time and space around play and enrichment.

OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) is a named school improvement programme on the site, and the school also shares an “OPAL lunchtimes” gallery describing children having access to “loose parts” every lunchtime, with updates dated 15 November 2024 and 25 April 2025. The implication is practical: lunchtimes are being treated as a learning and wellbeing lever, not just a break between lessons. For many children, better play structures translate into calmer afternoons and fewer friendship flashpoints.

The wraparound provision is also specific. Breakfast club runs from 7.45 until the start of the school day, with no need to book; there is also an early drop-off option from 8.15. After-school club runs until 5.15, includes a healthy snack, and uses themed evenings, with Tuesday described as construction night. For working families, that detail matters more than a generic “wraparound available”, it affects how predictable childcare feels week by week.

Community activity is visible too. The school reports planting over 200 donated trees around the grounds, including species such as hawthorn, holly, oak, willow and hazel, with pupils from Foundation to Year 6 involved alongside family members. This kind of shared project can be particularly valuable in small schools because it gives pupils a collective story that cuts across year groups.

The November 2025 newsletter also points to seasonal enrichment and events, including an OPAL parent morning, a Christmas market, and a pantomime visit. These features tend to shape how children remember primary school, not just as lessons and tests, but as a rhythm of shared occasions.

Core hours are clearly published: gates open at 8.40, register at 8.50, Reception finishes at 3.10, and the rest of the school at 3.15. Breakfast club runs from 7.45, and after-school club runs until 5.15.

Transport-wise, this is a village setting, so many families will rely on walking routes or short car journeys. When you are planning, focus on how the start and finish times align with work and with any siblings at other sites, because small shifts in timing are often the difference between “manageable” and “stressful”.

Term dates are published as downloadable documents for 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 on the school website.

• Inspection context. The predecessor school at the same site was rated Requires Improvement at its most recent Ofsted inspection in December 2022. This is useful context for questions to ask about leadership capacity, curriculum consistency, and how improvements are being embedded.

• Oversubscription in a small school. Recent demand data indicates 2.5 applications per offer, and the school’s published capacity is 104. In a small intake, even a handful of extra local applications can change outcomes, so families should avoid assumptions based on anecdotes.

• Reception finish time. Reception ends at 3.10 while the rest of the school ends at 3.15. This is minor, but it can complicate pick-up logistics if you have multiple children across settings.

• High expectations. With ambitious results and a stated attendance expectation of 96%, the school is signalling that consistency matters. That suits many children well, but families should be confident the pace and expectations match their child’s needs.

Morton Primary Academy is best understood as a small, structured village primary with unusually strong end of key stage 2 outcomes. The CARDS values framework and clear routines (including published core hours and wraparound detail) suggest a school that prizes predictability and responsibility, backed by a curriculum that includes everything from local history to micro:bit computing.

Who it suits: families who want a smaller school community, clear expectations, and academic results that compare very favourably with England averages, and who are comfortable engaging actively with attendance and routines. The primary hurdle is admission, because small schools can become oversubscribed quickly.