Darley Community Primary School is a small village school. It is much appreciated by parents and carers. The staff have created a deeply caring and supportive community. Pupils are kind and encouraging of one another. All the staff follow the headteacher’s simple but effective rules – ‘keep me safe, make me happy, help me to learn’. The ethos in the school ensures no bullying happens. Pupils receive a good quality of education. The addition of the pre-school is helping children get off to a really good start. The pre-school classroom is an ‘Aladdin’s cave’ of stimulating resources. Children are immediately drawn into an exciting world of possibilities. Pupils enjoy reading and have a well-stocked library to choose from. In the past, the school focused on teaching reading, writing and mathematics. However, new planning is helping teachers to cover other subjects in more depth and detail. Pupils now have separate books for each subject and are proud of the quality of their work. The formation of the federation has helped to improve the school. Staff morale is high. The teachers enjoy working with colleagues in the partner school. Working together has helped them to improve their curriculum planning.