Swarland Primary School

Swarland Primary School is a small, happy and friendly community primary school where pupils work hard, behave well and treat each other with respect. The school has strong relationships with families, effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and a broad, well-sequenced curriculum that has been adapted successfully for mixed-age classes. Reading is a particular strength, mathematics teaching is strong, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The early years provision is exceptional, with children making an excellent start and showing remarkable resilience and independence. The school has maintained a good standard across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Leaders, governors and staff share a clear ambition for all pupils, and staff feel well supported. Behaviour is calm and orderly, and although the school has seen more pupils struggling with behaviour since the COVID-19 pandemic, incidents are now increasingly rare because of reviewed policies and external specialist advice. The main area for improvement is personal development. The school’s programme does not cover some fundamental British values, especially democracy, in sufficient depth. As a result, pupils’ understanding of national elections and parliament is less secure, and they are not as well prepared for life after school as they could be. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the pandemic, and under the current framework it received no overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, respectful, hard-working and behave well.
• Strong relationships with families help staff meet children’s needs from the start.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported and achieve well across school life.
• The curriculum is broad, well sequenced and successfully adapted for mixed-age classes.
• Reading is a strength, with precise phonics teaching and strong catch-up support.
• Pupils develop secure mathematical understanding and achieve well in assessments.
• Personal development is wide ranging, including mental health support, online safety and healthy relationships.
• Behaviour is effectively managed, and lessons and breaktimes are calm and orderly.
• Early years provision is exceptional, with highly effective language and social development.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Leaders and governors are considerate of staff workload and build a supportive culture.

Areas for Improvement

• The personal development programme does not cover some fundamental British values, especially democracy, in sufficient depth.
• Pupils’ understanding of national elections and parliament is less secure.

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 Swarland Primary School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 0.0% 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 Swarland 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 Swarland Primary School had 15.3 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, 10.5% of pupils at Swarland Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.0% 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 Swarland Primary School received £8,273 and spent £8,317 for each of its 76 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £260,000 (£3,419 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 Morpeth · Northumberland local authority: places and applications

What is Swarland Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Swarland Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Swarland Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Swarland Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Swarland Primary School have?

Swarland Primary School has 76 pupils on roll.

What age range does Swarland Primary School cover?

Swarland Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 83% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Swarland Primary School?

Swarland Primary School is at Leamington Lane, Newton-on-the-Moor, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE65 9JP.