Dinnington First School

Dinnington First School is a happy, inclusive and well-run school where pupils attend regularly, behave very well and benefit from strong early years provision. Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements. Pupils make good progress, especially in phonics and reading and in aspects of mathematics, and the school supports disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. The school has grown since its last inspection and now operates as a two-form-entry school from Reception to Year 4, alongside a nursery.

Strengths

• High attendance and very low persistent absence
• Pupils behave very well and show enthusiasm for learning
• Children thrive in early years and make a strong start
• Highly effective phonics teaching gets pupils reading early
• Mathematics is a significant early years strength, including number and counting
• Strong support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Highly inclusive wellbeing and counselling offer
• Well-sequenced curriculum with clear subject knowledge
• Effective leadership and governance with high staff retention
• Diverse personal development and enrichment opportunities
• Warm, welcoming school community with positive pupil-staff relationships
• Prompt, bespoke support for attendance

Areas for Improvement

• Adaptations in lessons are not used consistently well across the curriculum
• Some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, are less confident in wider curriculum subjects
• All pupils need to develop more detailed and connected knowledge and skills across wider curriculum subjects

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Dinnington First School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.6% of pupils at Dinnington First School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Dinnington First School had 23.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.1% of pupils at Dinnington First School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Dinnington First School received £6,340 and spent £6,534 for each of its 319 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £20,000 (£63 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne · Newcastle upon Tyne local authority: places and applications

Dinnington First School is part of Gosforth Schools' Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Havannah First School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Brunton First School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Regent Farm First School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Grange First School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Gosforth Park First School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Gosforth East Middle School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Gosforth Central Middle School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Archibald First School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• South Gosforth First School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

What is Dinnington First School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dinnington First School is Expected standard, from an inspection in February 2026.

When was Dinnington First School last inspected by Ofsted?

Dinnington First School was last inspected in February 2026.

How many pupils does Dinnington First School have?

Dinnington First School has 320 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dinnington First School cover?

Dinnington First School for pupils aged 3 to 9.

Where is Dinnington First School?

Dinnington First School is at Sycamore Avenue, Dinnington Village, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE13 7JY.