Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Huge Investment in School Site ahead of Nursery Launch

  Wed 15 Apr 2026

  Darley Churchtown School is to benefit from an investment of over £220,000 following a council decision last week. The money will be used to enhance the learning environment for all children with a particular focus on our early years provision as we move towards the launch of our nursery in September.

   

  The money has come from a planning agreement and was held by the local authority. To access the funding, we had to submit plans to the local authority detailing how the money would be used. Our proposals were approved at a cabinet meeting last week, meaning we can now move ahead with the work.

   

  Plans for the project include a wide range of improvements to both indoor and outdoor spaces. These will see the refurbishment of infant toilets and cloakrooms, upgrades to classrooms and the creation of new dedicated spaces for inclusion and reading.

   

  The school hall will also be enlarged to better accommodate collective worship, physical education and lunchtime activities, while early years pupils will benefit from a resurfaced outdoor area and the addition of canopies to provide shade and shelter.

   

  Further works will include improved accessibility and security measures, upgraded flooring and lighting, and energy-efficient LED installations throughout the building. All the changes will be within the existing structure of the building to ensure its historic character is maintained.

   

  The money has come from a type of planning consent known as a Section 106 agreement. This requires developers to invest in the local community in return for being granted planning permission for building projects. The money was earmarked for the school as a result of a housing project in the area.

   

  Following the approval of the plans, partners will now be appointed to carry out the work. We’ll keep you updated as we move forward with the project.

  

• After School Club Launched

  Wed 11 Feb 2026

  We are delighted to announce that we are opening an after school club after half term. The first session will be on Tuesday 24th February as school is closed on Monday 23rd for staff training.

   

  The club will run until 5pm every day. There will be a range of activities on offer and school staff will also provide a healthy drink and snack for the children.

   

  There will be small charge for the club to cover costs. This is £5 a day per child. For families who qualify for free school meals through the pupil premium scheme, this charge will be reduced to £2.50.

   

  Please book places through Arbor.

  

• Recycling Team Visit

  Tue 03 Feb 2026

  The children had a visit from the Derbyshire Dales recycling team today. They enjoyed learning more about how waste is managed in an environmentally friendly way in the local area and also had a chance to get a close look at one of the council's recycling vehicles.

  

• Snow Closure - Friday 9th January 2026

  Fri 09 Jan 2026

  Due to the heavy snow across the local and wider area, combined with the poor driving conditions, school will be closed today for all children.  

   

  As you can appreciate many staff travel into school and, despite best preparations, are snowed in, and unable to travel into school. This means that we are unfortunately unable to safely open our school site, unable to provide catering and unable to provide safe staffing levels.  

   

  Staff from school will be sharing some available learning via the school website by mid morning (10:30 a.m.) which children can access to help them practise key skills. We hope there’s also time to enjoy the unusual heavy snow.  

• Class 1 Shine in Nativity

  Wed 10 Dec 2025

  Class 1 put on a fantastic performance of the Shine Star, Shine nativity play yesterday evening.

   

  The whole class was involved, playing the traditional roles of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, kings, angels and of course the stars of the title. In a twist to the usual format, the performance focused on the star who couldn't shine and their journey to grow in confidence so they could show others the way.

   

  The children had a wonderful time performing songs, dancing and telling the nativity story.

   

   

  

• Key Stage 2 Visit Manchester Museum

  Thu 20 Nov 2025

  Children in key stage 2 had a chance to broaden their horizons this week with a trip to Manchester Museum.

   

  We explored the museum's galleries looking at everything from dinosaur remains and ancient Egyptian mummies to artefacts from the stone age and bronze age.

   

  The highlight of the visit was the 'Time Odyssey' experience, where the children used an app to take pictures of items in different galleries and combine these to make artefacts for historical characters. Once each artefact was completed, the character could then travel back to their own time.

   

  Time Odyssey has been created by Art Explora and the British Museum and is available in various museums as well as online. It is free to use and we were very fortunate to be able to run the trip without any cost to families due to this support.

  

• Consultation on extending the age range of the school

  Fri 14 Nov 2025

  Darley Churchtown CE Primary School is consulting on plans to extend the age range of the school to welcome three and four year olds into our early years provision. This follows the successful opening of teacher-led nurseries at two of our partner schools: St Giles CE Primary and All Saints CE Infant School, both in Matlock.

   

  The school has previously consulted on this proposal and received a positive response. We are hopeful that a similarly positive response will allow us to move ahead with these plans and expand our early years provision so that more children can benefit from our commitment to giving our youngest pupils the best possible start to their education.

   

  The consultation will run until the 5th December and can be completed here: Consultation on extending age range of school

   

  The associated draft admissions policy can be found here: Draft admissions policy

• Service at Derby Cathedral

  Tue 21 Oct 2025

  A group of children from Darley Churchtown attended a service at Derby Cathedral alongside their peers from every other school within the Derby Diocesan Academy Trust.

   

  The service marked 10 years of the Trust and also celebrated the creation of a special quilt that was blessed during the service. The quilt consists of designs created by children at each of the 33 DDAT schools, which have been sewn together to create the finished piece.

   

  The Darley Churchtown section shows a picture of the school made from pieces of old uniform and celebrates our links with the Church and the rich history of our school.

   

  During the service, children performed music, sung in a choir and read poems and prayers.

  

• Welcome back and class newsletters

  Fri 12 Sep 2025

  It's been lovely to have the children back in school this week after the Summer break. Everyone has settled in well to their new year groups or classes and our new starters are finding their feet especially well.

   

  You can find out more about what is coming up this half term by reading the class curriculum newsletters. These are published each half term on the class pages.

   

  Here are the links for this half term:

   

  Early years

  Class 1

  Class 2

  Class 3

  

• Steam Train Trip

  Wed 23 Jul 2025

  The whole school enjoyed a trip on a steam train today courtesy of Peak Rail.

   

  We boarded the heritage railway at the nearby Darley Dale station and then travelled to Matlock and then back to Rowsley South. We got off for a quick picnic here before getting the train back to Darley Dale.

   

  As well as experiencing a trip on the train, the children also learnt a little about how steam engines work and the organisation of the railway from the guard on board the train.

   

  The visit was organised through a project we've been learning about, Bridging the Past. This is promoting the history of the railway as well as restoring a bridge at Darley Dale station. Derwent and Wye Valley Railway Trust, Peak Rail, the Peak Railway Association, Darley Dale Town Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund are all involved.