Richard Avenue Primary School

Richard Avenue Primary School remains a good school, characterized by its inclusive environment and strong community spirit. The pupils demonstrate kindness and respect towards one another and are well-supported by caring staff who know them well. The school has high expectations for achievement, offering a broad and ambitious curriculum that prepares students effectively for secondary education. Teachers foster a love for reading and provide numerous opportunities for personal development, including various clubs and responsibilities that help cultivate active citizenship among pupils. While the overall quality of education is high, there are some areas for improvement, particularly in how teachers gauge pupils' understanding. In certain lessons, the pace of learning may be too quick, potentially leaving some students struggling to grasp essential skills. Addressing this will be crucial for ensuring that all pupils achieve their full potential and maintain strong academic outcomes as they progress through their education.

Strengths

• Pupils treat each other with kindness and respect.
• Caring staff who know the pupils well.
• High expectations for pupils' achievement.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum that is well sequenced.
• Strong emphasis on developing a love for reading through various activities.
• Wide range of opportunities for pupils to develop talents and engage in extracurricular activities.
• Effective personal development program with external agency involvement.
• Strong community and parental engagement.

Areas for Improvement

• Occasional insufficient checking of pupils' understanding in lessons.
• Teachers sometimes move on too quickly before securing essential knowledge.

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 Richard Avenue Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.1% 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, 2.8% of pupils at Richard Avenue 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 Richard Avenue Primary School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.5% 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, 21.3% of pupils at Richard Avenue Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.2% 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 Richard Avenue Primary School received £7,129 and spent £6,980 for each of its 425 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £168,000 (£395 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 Sunderland · Sunderland local authority: places and applications

What is Richard Avenue Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Richard Avenue Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was Richard Avenue Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Richard Avenue Primary School was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does Richard Avenue Primary School have?

Richard Avenue Primary School has 445 pupils on roll.

What age range does Richard Avenue Primary School cover?

Richard Avenue Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Richard Avenue Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Richard Avenue Primary School?

Richard Avenue Primary School is at Hurstwood Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR4 7LQ.