Pentland Primary School

Pentland Primary School demonstrates a strong overall performance with notable strengths in safeguarding and early years education. The school has established a nurturing environment where children feel safe and supported, benefiting from well-designed curricula that prioritize communication and phonics. Additionally, the leadership team is proactive in addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and disabilities, ensuring well-coordinated support for their engagement and learning. However, despite these strengths, there are areas that require improvement, particularly in securing consistent teaching effectiveness across subjects and addressing attendance challenges, especially among disadvantaged pupils.

Strengths

• Strong safeguarding practices creating a safe environment for pupils.
• Well-designed early years curriculum promoting effective early literacy skills.
• Effective support for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs.
• Positive impact of new leadership on school culture and staff wellbeing.
• Rich program of extra-curricular activities enhancing personal development.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent teaching effectiveness across the school.
• Pupils' performance in national assessments has been below national averages.
• High levels of persistent absence among some pupils, especially disadvantaged.

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 Pentland Primary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.3% 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, 7.1% of pupils at Pentland 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 Pentland Primary School had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.0% 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, 17.2% of pupils at Pentland Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 7 pupils and resourced provision with 4 pupils.

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 Pentland Primary School received £8,631 and spent £9,046 for each of its 239 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £1,000 (-£5 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of One Excellence Multi Academy Trust, income was £8,466 and spending £8,655 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 Billingham · Stockton-on-Tees local authority: places and applications

Pentland Primary School is part of One Excellence Multi Academy Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mark's Church of England Primary School Stockton-On-Tees
• St Michael's Church of England Primary School Ferryhill
• Evenwood Church of England Primary School Bishop Auckland

What is Pentland Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pentland Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in April 2026.

When was Pentland Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pentland Primary School was last inspected in April 2026.

How many pupils does Pentland Primary School have?

Pentland Primary School has 238 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pentland Primary School cover?

Pentland Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 34% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Pentland Primary School?

Pentland Primary School is at Pentland Avenue, Billingham, TS23 2RG.