Whale Hill Primary School

Whale Hill Primary School demonstrates strong overall performance, reflecting a committed approach from leaders, staff, and the community. The school achieves above national averages in various educational outcomes, particularly with disadvantaged pupils, who surpass their peers across key areas. The strong culture of safeguarding ensures that pupils feel safe and valued in a supportive environment. The leadership team is proactive in addressing barriers to learning, thereby equipping pupils with the skills necessary for future success.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve consistently well over time.
• Disadvantaged pupils outperform their non-disadvantaged peers nationally.
• High attendance rates among all pupils, including those with SEND.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, focusing on vocabulary development.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and high expectations.
• The school fosters an inclusive environment for all pupils.
• Leaders and governors are highly committed to the school's improvement.
• Personal development and wellbeing programs are effective and well-structured.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistency in staff interactions with children in early years.

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 Whale Hill Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.3% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Whale Hill 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 Whale Hill Primary School had 21.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.2% 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, 15.2% of pupils at Whale Hill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Whale Hill Primary School received £7,706 and spent £7,385 for each of its 433 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £556,000 (£1,284 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Steel River Academy Trust, income was £8,458 and spending £8,168 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 Middlesbrough · Redcar and Cleveland local authority: places and applications

Whale Hill Primary School is part of Steel River Academy Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Caedmon Primary School Middlesbrough
• Bankfields Primary School Middlesbrough
• Grangetown Primary School Middlesbrough

What is Whale Hill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Whale Hill Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was Whale Hill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Whale Hill Primary School was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does Whale Hill Primary School have?

Whale Hill Primary School has 461 pupils on roll.

What age range does Whale Hill Primary School cover?

Whale Hill Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 85% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Whale Hill Primary School?

Whale Hill Primary School is at Sandsend Road, Eston, Whale Hill Primary School, Middlesbrough, TS6 8AD.