Bellingham Primary School

Bellingham Primary School is a small rural village school serving pupils aged 4 to 8 as part of The Bellingham Federation. This was its first inspection under section 5, following an earlier section 8 inspection in 2023. Inspectors judged the school good in all key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has a nurturing and caring ethos, with warm relationships and a strong values base. Pupils feel safe and happy, behave consistently well and show positive attitudes to learning. The school has designed an ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum, and reading is a clear priority, with structured phonics and effective catch-up support. Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and included well, and the early years provision is well designed, particularly in developing children’s language. Attendance has improved, and pupils benefit from a broad range of clubs, visits and leadership opportunities. The main areas for improvement concern the recent curriculum changes. In some foundation subjects, the revised curriculum is not yet fully embedded, so pupils do not develop the same depth of knowledge as in other subjects. Oversight of how well the new curriculum is being implemented is also at an early stage, meaning leaders do not yet have a fully accurate picture of how well pupils are learning across all subjects. The school has experienced leadership instability in recent years, but governors and staff have maintained a clear ambition and prioritised pupils’ needs.

Strengths

• Nurturing environment with warm relationships and pupils who feel safe and happy.
• Pupils behave consistently well and show positive attitudes to learning.
• Ambitious revised curriculum is carefully sequenced and addresses gaps quickly.
• Strong early reading provision with structured phonics and effective catch-up support.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and successfully included in lessons.
• Well-designed early years curriculum with expert support for children’s language development.
• Broad personal development offer including clubs, educational visits and leadership responsibilities.
• Effective governance and a clear ambitious vision despite recent leadership instability.
• Attendance has improved and safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum changes in some foundation subjects are too recent to be fully embedded.
• Pupils do not yet develop the same depth of knowledge in some subjects as in others.
• Oversight of how well the revised curriculum is being implemented is at an early stage.
• The school does not yet have a fully accurate understanding of how well pupils are learning the revised curriculum.

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 Bellingham Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.9% 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 Bellingham 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 Bellingham Primary School had 8.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 61.5% 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, 12.5% of pupils at Bellingham Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 Bellingham Primary School received £9,204 and spent £9,042 for each of its 64 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £31,000 (£488 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 Hexham · Northumberland local authority: places and applications

What is Bellingham Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bellingham Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Bellingham Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bellingham Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Bellingham Primary School have?

Bellingham Primary School has 64 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bellingham Primary School cover?

Bellingham Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 8.

Where is Bellingham Primary School?

Bellingham Primary School is at Redesmouth Road, Hexham, Northumberland, NE48 2EL.