West Newcastle Academy

West Newcastle Academy is a good school across all inspected areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. It was previously judged good and this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. The school is part of the West Newcastle Academy trust and serves pupils aged 3 to 11; the headteacher is also the trust’s chief executive. Pupils are described as happy, welcoming and respectful, and they learn in a calm, purposeful environment where behaviour is not a barrier to learning. The school has high expectations and many pupils achieve well, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils who speak English as an additional language. There are notable strengths in the curriculum and pastoral provision. Early years staff use a detailed curriculum and precise language and vocabulary development, which particularly benefits pupils with English as an additional language. Phonics is taught well and pupils become increasingly fluent readers, with effective support to close gaps, although published 2024 phonics outcomes were well below national figures and do not reflect the quality of teaching or pupils’ progress from starting points. Pupils enjoy memorable learning experiences and benefit from a strong wider development programme, including outdoor and community learning that builds resilience and confidence. Safeguarding is effective, leadership is diligent, and parents are largely positive about the school’s engagement. Inspectors identified two main areas for improvement. Checks on pupils’ long-term retention of skills and knowledge are not sufficiently robust in some subjects, so gaps in knowledge are not always identified and addressed. In addition, the proportion of pupils who are absent or persistently absent is high, meaning too many pupils miss the rich experiences and important learning the school offers, despite robust follow-up procedures. The school should refine its approach to checking long-term learning and continue engaging with parents to reduce absence.

Strengths

• Pupils live out the school’s values of ready, respectful and safe
• Pupils are happy, welcoming and develop positive relationships
• High expectations support many pupils to achieve well, including pupils with SEND and pupils who speak English as an additional language
• Well-trained staff provide effective support when pupils’ achievement does not meet expectations
• The school is calm and purposeful, and pupils’ behaviour is not a barrier to learning
• Early years provision is strong, with a detailed curriculum that builds on children’s prior knowledge
• Staff use communication, language and vocabulary precisely, particularly benefiting pupils who speak English as an additional language
• Phonics is delivered with fidelity and staff close gaps effectively so pupils catch up
• Pupils with SEND have their needs identified quickly and receive effective provision
• Pupils enjoy memorable learning experiences and develop a broad base of knowledge
• There is a clear and effective programme for pupils’ wider development
• Outdoor and community learning builds resilience, self-belief and self-confidence
• Pupils develop a keen understanding of equality and celebrate diversity
• There is a wide range of clubs available and many pupils take up these opportunities
• Leadership is diligent, staff receive effective professional development and leaders engage well with workload and well-being
• Parents compliment the school highly on its engagement with them
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on pupils’ long-term retention of skills and knowledge are not sufficiently robust in some subjects
• Some gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not consistently identified and addressed
• The proportion of pupils who are absent or persistently absent is high
• Too many pupils miss out on the school’s rich experiences and important learning due to absence
• Published phonics outcomes for 2024 were well below national figures

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 West Newcastle Academy attended 91.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 28.7% 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 West Newcastle Academy 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 West Newcastle Academy had 15.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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, 20.4% of pupils at West Newcastle Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% 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 West Newcastle Academy received £7,595 and spent £7,305 for each of its 200 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £112,000 (£560 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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What is West Newcastle Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for West Newcastle Academy is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was West Newcastle Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

West Newcastle Academy was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does West Newcastle Academy have?

West Newcastle Academy has 181 pupils on roll.

What age range does West Newcastle Academy cover?

West Newcastle Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are West Newcastle Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is West Newcastle Academy?

West Newcastle Academy is at Off Armstrong Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE4 8QP.