Hamsterley Primary School

Hamsterley Primary School is a small, welcoming school where pupils are polite, happy and feel safe. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are good, and safeguarding is effective. Pupils benefit from warm relationships, a nurturing ethos and a strong wider development programme, including a well-developed understanding of equality, British values and democracy. Parents are positive about the school, attendance has improved, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly and supported well. The quality of education requires improvement. Although leaders have high expectations and pupils enjoy lessons, some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could. In phonics and reading, staff do not consistently identify errors and misconceptions accurately, so gaps can become embedded. In some wider curriculum subjects, teaching does not secure subject knowledge deeply enough, and misconceptions are not always addressed consistently. The school joined the Durham Dales Federation in September 2023 and has had staffing changes. Leaders have addressed the areas for improvement from the previous inspection and are focused on improving education quality, but further work is needed to secure greater consistency across the school. Governors use a wide range of information to hold leaders to account, and staff are well supported with workload and well-being.

Strengths

• Pupils are welcoming, polite and friendly, and relationships across the school community are warm and positive.
• The school provides a carefully crafted, nurturing environment in which pupils feel safe and flourish as individuals.
• Pupils have a well-developed understanding of how to stay safe, including online and in the community.
• Pupils behave calmly and orderly, and older pupils act as positive role models for younger peers.
• Parents are very positive about the school and value its supportive ethos and effective communication.
• Children in the early years benefit from a well-planned curriculum with a clear focus on language and vocabulary.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly and supported effectively, making positive progress.
• Attendance has improved significantly, and pupils love coming to school.
• Pupils show a secure sense of equality, respect for difference and a strong moral compass.
• Pupils’ understanding of British values, protected characteristics and democracy is excellent.
• Leaders are focused on improving the quality of education and have addressed areas for improvement from the previous inspection.
• Governors are well informed and hold leaders to account, and staff are well supported with workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement.
• In some phonics teaching, staff do not identify errors and misconceptions in pupils’ reading with sufficient accuracy or consistency.
• Gaps in pupils’ reading are not addressed swiftly enough, so mistakes can become embedded and reading does not develop as well as it could.
• In some wider curriculum subjects, teaching does not ensure that subject knowledge is learned securely enough.
• Misconceptions are not addressed with enough consistency in some wider curriculum subjects, so pupils do not deepen their knowledge well enough over time.
• Some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could, which inhibits their readiness for the next stage of education.
• Further work is needed to secure greater consistency in the quality of education across the school.

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 Hamsterley Primary School attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Hamsterley 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 Hamsterley Primary School had 18.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% 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, 13.9% of pupils at Hamsterley Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 Hamsterley Primary School received £11,529 and spent £11,804 for each of its 36 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £71,000 (£1,976 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 Bishop Auckland · County Durham local authority: places and applications

What is Hamsterley Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hamsterley Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Hamsterley Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hamsterley Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Hamsterley Primary School have?

Hamsterley Primary School has 36 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hamsterley Primary School cover?

Hamsterley Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

Where is Hamsterley Primary School?

Hamsterley Primary School is at Hamsterley Primary School, Hamsterley, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL13 3QF.