Newker Primary School

Newker Primary School is a good school across all inspected areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the report notes a calm, orderly and purposeful environment where pupils behave well, feel safe and are ambitious. The school has high expectations, and pupils respond positively. Reading is a particular strength, with well-taught phonics and strong support for pupils who fall behind. Pupils with SEND are identified well and access the full curriculum, and attendance has improved, including for persistently absent pupils. Early years provision prepares children well for Year 1, and personal development is woven through school life, including trips, leadership opportunities and careers awareness. Safeguarding is effective, and governors are strongly community focused. The main areas for improvement are the consistency of curriculum delivery in a few subjects, where the intended sequence is not routinely followed and assessment is still developing, meaning some pupils have not secured all key knowledge. In addition, some aspects of personal development are not implemented as well as they could be, particularly pupils’ understanding of equality and diversity across all year groups. Overall, the school is performing well, with clear strengths in reading, behaviour, SEND support and attendance, and two specific areas to refine.

Strengths

• High expectations of pupils’ achievement and conduct are consistently met.
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and the school has a calm, orderly atmosphere.
• Teaching pupils to read is central and phonics is taught well.
• Pupils read books that match the sounds they know and receive support to catch up.
• Pupils with SEND are identified well and supported to access the full curriculum.
• Attendance has improved, particularly for pupils who were persistently absent.
• Early years provision prepares children well for learning beyond Reception.
• Personal development is woven through school life, including trips, leadership roles and careers awareness.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Governors are strongly community focused and provide strong oversight of safeguarding and attendance.
• Staff appreciate leaders’ focus on well-being and receive effective training.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, the planned curriculum is not delivered in the intended sequence.
• Assessment is still developing in some subjects, so pupils’ learning needs are not routinely identified.
• Some pupils have not secured all the key knowledge the school intends them to learn.
• Learning around equality and diversity is not implemented effectively in all year groups.
• Some aspects of pupils’ personal development are not implemented as well as they could be.

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 Newker Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.0% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Newker 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 Newker Primary School had 22.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.7% 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, 14.1% of pupils at Newker Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.5% 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 Newker Primary School received £7,369 and spent £7,310 for each of its 336 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £159,000 (£473 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 Chester Le Street · County Durham local authority: places and applications

What is Newker Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Newker Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Newker Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Newker Primary School have?

Newker Primary School has 340 pupils on roll.

What age range does Newker Primary School cover?

Newker Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Newker Primary School?

Newker Primary School is at Waldridge Road, Chester le Street, County Durham, DH2 3AA.