Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School

Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School has made significant progress since its previous inspection, achieving a 'Good' rating across all domains of education. The school fosters a supportive environment where pupils are encouraged to have positive attitudes towards their learning and each other, leading to good behaviour and mutual respect. The leaders prioritize a broad curriculum and have made efforts to address the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), ensuring they can fully engage with the learning provided. The school has been part of the Tudhoe Learning Trust since 2012, and this supportive context has contributed to its progress in providing a nurturing educational experience.

Strengths

• High expectations set by staff lead to good behaviour among pupils.
• Positive relationships built on respect between staff and pupils.
• Broad and balanced curriculum that engages pupils through varied learning experiences.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND, ensuring access to the full curriculum.
• Strong emphasis on reading with a systematic phonics program.
• Early years provision that prepares children well for Year 1.
• Strong culture of safeguarding, ensuring pupil safety and well-being.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum development in some subjects like history and science is less clear.
• Inconsistent approaches to assessment across different subjects.

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 Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School attended 91.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 30.5% 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, 3.8% of pupils at Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School had 20.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.3% 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, 27.4% of pupils at Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.4% 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 2024–25 Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School received £8,172 and spent £8,282 for each of its 307 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £395,000 (£1,288 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Tudhoe Learning Trust, income was £7,731 and spending £7,710 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Newton Aycliffe · County Durham local authority: places and applications

Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School is part of Tudhoe Learning Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Victoria Lane Academy Bishop Auckland
• Tudhoe Colliery Primary School Spennymoor
• Acre Rigg Academy Peterlee
• South Hetton Primary Durham
• Dene House Primary School Peterlee
• Shield Row Primary School Stanley

What is Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School have?

Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School has 285 pupils on roll.

What age range does Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School cover?

Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 29% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School?

Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School is at Stephenson Way, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, DL5 7DD.