North Fawdon Primary School

North Fawdon Primary School is a highly inclusive, welcoming school at the heart of its local community, where pupils feel safe, valued and happy and parents speak highly of the care their children receive. It has exceptionally high pupil mobility and a nurturing ethos, and its on-site alternative resource provision, The Harbour, helps pupils with additional needs thrive. This was the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and the school had not previously been inspected under section 5; it is part of Smart Multi-Academy Trust. Inspectors found the school performing well across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Notable strengths include an ambitious curriculum that starts in early years, well-sequenced mathematics, a strong focus on oracy and writing, a raised profile for reading, swift identification of SEND, excellent pupil conduct, robust attendance work, a wide range of activities and strong staff support from leaders and the trust. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement are that checks on prior learning are not firmly established in all subjects, phonics teaching and fidelity to the phonics scheme are not yet fully embedded, and early years vocabulary and language provision is inconsistent in some areas. These issues mean some pupils have limited recall of earlier learning, some do not build secure phonics knowledge, and some children have missed opportunities to develop rich vocabulary and communication.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive, welcoming school at the heart of its community
• Pupils feel safe, valued and happy, and parents speak highly of the school
• Pupils with SEND, including those in The Harbour, are identified swiftly and thrive
• High expectations of behaviour are consistently applied, with excellent pupil conduct
• Ambitious curriculum begins in early years and is well sequenced in mathematics
• Strong focus on oracy and writing is implemented consistently from early years
• Reading has a raised profile, including a new library and timely phonics interventions
• Robust attendance policies and strong pastoral support
• Wide range of visits, after-school activities and pupil leadership roles
• Staff feel well supported and value trust-led professional development
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on prior learning are not embedded across all curriculum areas, limiting pupils' recall
• Phonics teaching and fidelity to the scheme are not fully embedded, so some pupils do not build secure phonics knowledge
• Some phonics lessons do not effectively revisit prior sounds before moving on
• Early years vocabulary and language provision is inconsistent, with missed opportunities for rich interaction and communication

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 North Fawdon Primary School attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.1% 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 North Fawdon 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 North Fawdon Primary School had 12.9 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, 21.1% of pupils at North Fawdon Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.4% 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 North Fawdon Primary School received £9,163 and spent £9,074 for each of its 177 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £144,000 (£817 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Smart Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,594 and spending £7,596 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 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne · Newcastle upon Tyne local authority: places and applications

North Fawdon Primary School is part of Smart Multi Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Mountfield Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Kingston Park Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Kenton Bar Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Wyndham Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Cheviot Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Farne Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Stocksfield Avenue Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Stephenson Memorial Primary School Wallsend
• Oakfield Junior School Gateshead
• Oakfield Infant School Gateshead

What is North Fawdon Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was North Fawdon Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

North Fawdon Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does North Fawdon Primary School have?

North Fawdon Primary School has 166 pupils on roll.

What age range does North Fawdon Primary School cover?

North Fawdon Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is North Fawdon Primary School?

North Fawdon Primary School is at Brotherlee Road, Fawdon, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE3 2SL.