St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow

St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School, Jarrow is a happy, high-performing school where pupils thrive personally and academically. Inspectors found outstanding behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision, while the quality of education was good. Pupils achieve well, including in Year 6 national assessments, and their knowledge in subjects beyond national tests is impressive. Strong phonics teaching, effective support for pupils with SEND, high attendance and exceptional personal development opportunities are notable strengths. This was the school’s first section 5 inspection. It is an academy converter within Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, and under current arrangements no overall effectiveness grade was awarded. The main area for improvement is ensuring pupils have more frequent opportunities to revisit and practise complex prior learning in some subjects, including mathematics problem-solving and reasoning, so that knowledge is deepened and applied securely. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive personally and academically in a happy, respectful school culture.
• Behaviour and attitudes are outstanding, with calm lessons and warm relationships.
• Personal development is exceptional, including eco-group leadership, clubs and community involvement.
• Early years provision gives children an exceptionally strong start through close work with families and pre-school settings.
• Phonics teaching is strong, with quick identification and effective support for pupils who need extra help.
• Support for pupils with SEND and potential barriers is highly effective.
• The curriculum captures pupils’ interests and prepares them well for the next stage.
• Leaders, governors and trustees are ambitious, monitor effectively and take staff wellbeing seriously.
• Attendance is high and safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, pupils do not get enough opportunities to revisit complex prior learning, limiting how securely they secure and apply knowledge.
• Mathematics problem-solving and reasoning are less secure where recall and reuse of previous learning are limited.

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 Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow attended 95.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.9% 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, 1.0% of pupils at St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow 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 Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow had 25.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.7% 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, 13.9% of pupils at St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.5% 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 Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow received £6,460 and spent £6,318 for each of its 208 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £70,000 (-£335 per pupil).

Across all 30 schools of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,338 and spending £7,295 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 Jarrow · South Tyneside local authority: places and applications

St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow is part of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, which runs 31 schools. The nearest others:

• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow Jarrow
• St James' Catholic Primary School, Hebburn Hebburn
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Jarrow
• St Joseph's Catholic Academy Hebburn
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow Jarrow
• St Aloysius Catholic Junior School Academy Hebburn
• St Aloysius Catholic Infant School, Hebburn Hebburn
• SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, South Shields South Shields
• St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Town End Farm, Sunderland Sunderland
• St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, South Shields South Shields

What is St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow last inspected by Ofsted?

St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow have?

St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow has 209 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow cover?

St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 48% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow?

St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow is at Alnwick Grove, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, NE32 5YT.