St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School has received its first inspection since becoming an academy and has been rated as good overall. The school fosters a safe and nurturing environment where pupils demonstrate pride in their school and engage positively with the learning process. With a strong focus on behaviour and an aspirational curriculum, the school has ensured that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well and are prepared for the next stages of their education. Leadership transitions over the past two years have been effectively managed, leading to improvements across various curriculum areas.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate high standards of behaviour and respect for one another.
• The curriculum is well-planned and ambitious, promoting revisiting and building on prior knowledge.
• Effective phonics and reading programs have been successfully implemented.
• Strong support for SEND pupils with high expectations for their achievements.
• Early years provision is well-structured, promoting communication and language development.

Areas for Improvement

• Challenge for most-able pupils in mathematics is sometimes insufficient.
• New curriculums in subjects like geography are still in early stages of implementation.

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 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.1% 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, 0.4% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington 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 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington had 20.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.0% 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, 9.7% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.3% 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 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington received £6,138 and spent £6,159 for each of its 227 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £58,000 (£255 per pupil).

Across all 46 schools of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,708 and spending £7,760 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 Washington · Sunderland local authority: places and applications

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington is part of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, which runs 46 schools. The nearest others:

• St John Boste Catholic Primary School, Washington Washington
• St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington Washington
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Washington Washington
• St Joseph's Catholic Junior School, Birtley Chester Le Street
• St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley Chester Le Street
• Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Primary School, Penshaw Houghton Le Spring
• St Oswald's Catholic Primary, Wrekenton Gateshead
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead Gateshead
• St Anne's Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green Gateshead
• Cardinal Hume Catholic School, Gateshead Gateshead

What is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington is Good, from an inspection in December 2023.

When was St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington was last inspected in December 2023.

How many pupils does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington have?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington has 227 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington cover?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington is at Village Lane, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE38 7HU.