St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School

St Oswald’s C of E Aided Primary School is a warm and welcoming primary school where pupils are polite, feel safe and achieve well. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was graded Good in all key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Safeguarding is effective. The school has high expectations, a carefully mapped curriculum, strong support for pupils with SEND and a successful early reading and phonics programme. Pupils benefit from a broad wider offer, including visits and experiences that bring the curriculum to life, and a well-sequenced personal, social and health education programme. Staff are proud to work at the school and receive purposeful professional development. The newly established governing body is well skilled, but its strategic oversight is not yet fully embedded. The main area for improvement is the consistency with which recent curriculum changes are implemented. In some subjects, teaching activities and resources are not yet fully aligned with the school’s curriculum intentions, and some pupils are not consistently supported to learn the key knowledge and skills intended. Leaders need to monitor the impact of these changes more carefully, and governors need to develop a detailed understanding of the school so they can hold leaders fully to account.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming school with polite, well-mannered pupils who feel safe and valued.
• High expectations and a well-mapped curriculum that builds skills and knowledge from early years onwards.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND through bespoke adaptations and targeted staff training.
• Pupils get a flying start in reading, with skilled phonics teaching and a strong reading culture.
• Positive attitudes to learning, with clear routines, rewards and consequences.
• Well-sequenced personal, social and health education enriched by wider experiences and safety education.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and benefit from purposeful professional development.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.

Areas for Improvement

• Implementation of recent curriculum changes varies across classrooms.
• Teaching activities and resources are not consistently aligned with curriculum intentions in some subjects.
• Some pupils are not consistently supported to learn the key knowledge and skills the school intends.
• Leaders need to monitor more carefully the impact of curriculum changes on pupils’ learning.
• The new governing body lacks a detailed understanding of the school and has not fully embedded accountability.

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 St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School attended 94.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.3% 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, 1.6% of pupils at St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary 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 St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.6% 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, 25.4% of pupils at St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.7% 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 St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School received £6,878 and spent £8,466 for each of its 181 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £293,000 (-£1,616 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 Hebburn · South Tyneside local authority: places and applications

What is St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School have?

St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School has 181 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School cover?

St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School?

St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School is at St Oswald's Road, Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, NE31 1HT.