Long Lane Church of England Primary School Review 2026: A tiny village primary with Forest School roots and a clear improvement agenda

Because the school is so small, published end of key stage data is not always available. The school states that assessment outcomes for recent Year 6 cohorts have been suppressed due to cohort size, including for 2024 and 2025. That means parents should be cautious about drawing conclusions from headline performance tables alone, because small numbers can swing results dramatically from one year to the next, and sometimes are not published at all.

What can be evaluated more reliably is the intent and consistency of the curriculum, and whether pupils are learning securely across reading, writing, mathematics and the wider subjects. The school’s curriculum area pages indicate subject leadership roles and structured documentation (for example, geography leadership and published overviews and progression documents).

The 2023 inspection narrative also highlights curriculum planning and implementation as a key improvement priority. In a school this size, the quality of sequencing, revisiting, and checking what pupils remember matters disproportionately, because mixed-age group teaching and small class groupings can expose gaps quickly if curriculum design is not tight.

Practical takeaway for parents: ask to see how reading is taught across year groups, how phonics and early reading feed into later comprehension, and how mathematics teaching builds from concrete and pictorial methods into fluency. With suppressed published outcomes, the best evidence is the work pupils are producing over time and how confidently they can explain what they have learned.

A small-school curriculum needs two things: clarity and repetition with purpose. Long Lane presents curriculum information by subject, including published intent documents and overviews, which is helpful for understanding how learning is planned. Geography, for example, is set out with leadership, a link governor, and curriculum documents that suggest an attempt to systematise what can otherwise become informal in a very small setting.

Early years and Key Stage 1 are grouped together as “Garden Class” (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2), which is a common and sensible approach in small primaries. The Garden Class page also makes Forest School visible as part of the offer, rather than an occasional add-on. The implication is that outdoor learning is likely to be part of how younger pupils build language, confidence and curiosity, not just a reward activity.

The school also frames music as embedded across school life, including links to worship and performance, which aligns naturally with a church school context. In practice, this can be a strength for confidence and memory, especially for pupils who respond well to rhythm and routine.

As a village primary, Long Lane’s transition story is less about a single named destination and more about readiness and confidence. The school describes serving a range of surrounding villages, and in rural areas that often means pupils may move on to more than one secondary depending on family preference, transport, and admissions outcomes.

What parents can reasonably expect from a small primary is careful transition support, particularly for pupils who may find a larger secondary environment daunting. The partnership approach with Marston Montgomery, and joint activities that broaden pupils’ social experience, can help pupils practise mixing with a wider peer group before transfer.

If you are deciding between local primaries, it is worth asking Long Lane how it supports Year 6 pupils with the practical skills of moving on, such as organisation, independent reading stamina, and confidence speaking up in larger groups. Those skills often matter as much as any one set of test results.

Long Lane is a state-funded primary and applications for Reception entry are coordinated through Derbyshire’s primary admissions process. For September 2026 entry, Derbyshire states that applications open on 10 November 2025 and close on 15 January 2026, with National Offer Day on 16 April 2026.

The school’s published admissions policy for September 2026 to August 2027 sets a published admission number (PAN) of 10 for Reception in 2026, and explains the oversubscription order, including priority for looked-after children, then children living in the normal area (with siblings prioritised), and distance as a tie-break.

Demand data indicates modest numbers but still an oversubscription pattern for the primary entry route, with 9 applications and 8 offers, and 1.13. applications per place In a small school, that can still translate into a competitive feel because the absolute number of places is low.

If you are unsure whether you fall within the area families typically use, the most reliable approach is to check the admissions policy definitions and confirm how distance is measured, then use FindMySchool’s Map Search to sanity-check your home-to-school distance before making assumptions about a place.

Small schools can be excellent at picking up early signs of wobble, because staff see the same children repeatedly in different contexts. Long Lane also states that the headteacher is the Designated Safeguarding Lead, which is common in small settings where leadership roles are necessarily multi-hatted.

The school day structure includes a clear rhythm, and that predictability can be supportive for younger pupils and for those who need firm routine. Drop-off is a defined 10-minute window, worship is timetabled at the start of the day, and breaks and lunch are clearly set out.

The key question for parents is consistency, especially given the improvement agenda highlighted in the most recent inspection. In a small school, a clear behaviour culture can be a strength quickly, because the same expectations apply everywhere and are reinforced naturally. The 2023 Ofsted gradings for behaviour and attitudes being Good is a useful indicator here, even while other areas require improvement.

Long Lane’s extracurricular story is less about a long club list and more about a handful of distinctive, practical activities that suit a small rural school.

Forest School looks like the signature strand. The school references Forest School sessions for Garden Class, with kit expectations and regular delivery. The benefit is not just outdoor play. Done well, Forest School can build vocabulary, teamwork, and emotional regulation, and it gives physically active learners another route into confidence.

Gardening is another clear theme. The school highlights its garden plot and shared community involvement through Friends of Long Lane (FOLL), and communications reference a FOLL Gardening Club that helps fund the garden. The implication for families is that enrichment is likely to be practical and hands-on, with children learning by doing, rather than being heavily performance-based.

There are also signs of broader clubs and sport links: Cookery Club appears in school communications, and partnership sports opportunities include hockey events at QEGS, which can widen experience beyond what a very small primary can offer alone.

The published school day runs from 8:55am to 3:30pm, with drop-off between 8:45am and 8:55am. Wraparound is available in-house: breakfast club runs 8:00am to 8:45am, and after-school club runs 3:30pm to 5:30pm Monday to Thursday, with no after-school club on Fridays.

Given the rural setting and the spread of villages served, families should also consider transport practicality. Even when the education fit is right, day-to-day logistics can shape the overall experience, especially for wraparound use and after-school activities.

• A recent Requires Improvement judgement. The school is on an improvement journey, and families should test how far changes are embedded by asking about curriculum sequencing, assessment checks, and how leaders know pupils are learning securely.

• Very small cohorts mean limited published results. The school notes that recent Year 6 outcomes have been suppressed due to cohort size, so you will need to rely more on work scrutiny, reading practice evidence, and how clearly staff can describe progress.

• Wraparound exists, but has constraints. Breakfast club is daily, but after-school club is not offered on Fridays, which matters for working families planning weekly childcare.

• Tiny PAN, tight choices. A published admission number of 10 for Reception in 2026 makes each intake small. That can be reassuring for some children and limiting for others who want a larger peer group.

Long Lane Church of England Primary School offers a distinctive small-school experience, shaped by close village ties, a clear church school rhythm, and outdoor learning that appears genuinely embedded through Forest School and gardening. The current headline challenge is the improvement agenda following the most recent inspection, alongside the reality that very small cohorts limit published results data.

Who it suits: families seeking a small, relational primary where children are likely to be well-known by staff, and where practical, outdoors-led enrichment is part of school life. It may be less suited to families who want the scale and breadth of a larger primary, or who prefer a school with a settled record of strong published outcomes.