Monkton Infants' School

Monkton Infants' School is a nurturing and caring school where pupils feel safe, behave well and are keen to learn. Inspectors found a purposeful and ambitious curriculum, strong early reading and mathematics, and well-planned early years provision. Pupils benefit from positive relationships with staff, effective safeguarding, and a strong personal development and pastoral offer.

Strengths

• Nurturing and caring environment where pupils feel safe and happy
• High expectations for achievement that pupils meet
• Pupils behave well, show respect and collaborate with others
• Positive professional relationships between staff and pupils
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Purposeful and ambitious curriculum with regular revisiting of learning
• Strong early reading programme with effective phonics support
• Well-sequenced mathematics curriculum with a number-rich early years
• Helpful assessment systems to check understanding and identify gaps
• Strong early years provision with well-established induction arrangements
• High priority on personal development and effective pastoral support
• Effective governance and consideration for staff well-being

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils with SEND are not always identified swiftly or accurately
• Targets in some SEND support plans are not precise enough to ensure timely tailored support
• Persistent absence remains high, meaning some pupils miss essential learning

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 Monkton Infants' School attended 91.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 33.8% 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 Monkton Infants' 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 Monkton Infants' School had 17.9 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, 12.8% of pupils at Monkton Infants' School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.6% 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 Monkton Infants' School received £9,082 and spent £8,518 for each of its 128 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £423,000 (£3,318 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.

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in South Shields · South Tyneside local authority: places and applications

What is Monkton Infants' School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Monkton Infants' School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Monkton Infants' School last inspected by Ofsted?

Monkton Infants' School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Monkton Infants' School have?

Monkton Infants' School has 164 pupils on roll.

What age range does Monkton Infants' School cover?

Monkton Infants' School for pupils aged 2 to 7.

Where is Monkton Infants' School?

Monkton Infants' School is at St Simon Street, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE34 9SD.