St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is a calm, kind and friendly school where pupils feel safe and happy, build strong relationships with staff and know they will be listened to and supported. Inspectors found the school effective across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision, with safeguarding arrangements judged effective. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection as an academy within Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust. The curriculum is ambitious, clearly sequenced and rooted in local, national and international contexts, including in the early years. Pupils with SEND are supported to access the full curriculum, teachers have strong subject knowledge, and reading is promoted well, with pupils developing fluency and staff expertise helping those who struggle to catch up. Personal development is a notable strength, including pastoral support, online safety, healthy relationships, trips and trust-wide activities, while leaders, trustees and governors share a clear focus on pupils’ development and staff well-being. The main areas for improvement are writing and early years consistency. The recently revised writing approach is not yet fully embedded, so pupils’ writing skills are not consistently well developed over time. In the early years, support is not always consistent, meaning a few children do not progress as rapidly as they could through the ambitious curriculum and are not as well prepared as possible for Year 1.

Strengths

• Calm, kind and friendly culture where pupils feel safe, happy and supported
• Strong positive relationships between pupils and staff
• Pupils feel listened to and know how to raise worries or concerns
• Ambitious curriculum with clear sequencing and strong local, national and international context
• Early years curriculum carefully designed to prepare children for learning beyond Reception
• Pupils with SEND are supported to access the full curriculum alongside their peers
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and help pupils build vocabulary and address gaps
• Reading is promoted well and pupils develop confidence and fluency
• Robust attendance systems successfully improve attendance for pupils needing support
• High-quality pastoral support and well-considered personal development
• Trips and trust-wide activities broaden pupils’ experiences and aspirations
• Trustees and governors understand the school’s strengths and improvement priorities
• Staff appreciate support with workload and well-being

Areas for Improvement

• The revised writing approach is not fully embedded, so pupils’ writing skills are not consistently developed over time
• Early years support is not always consistent, so a few children make slower progress through the ambitious curriculum

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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.1% 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, 3.8% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe had 18.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.2% 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, 21.0% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe received £7,683 and spent £6,851 for each of its 183 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £88,000 (£481 per pupil).

Across all 35 schools of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,699 and spending £7,759 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 Newton Aycliffe · County Durham local authority: places and applications

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe is part of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Aycliffe
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon Bishop Auckland
• St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland
• St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College Bishop Auckland
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School Darlington
• St Charles' Catholic Primary School, Tudhoe Spennymoor
• Holy Family Catholic Primary School Darlington
• Carmel College Darlington
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Darlington
• St Chad's Catholic Primary School, Witton Park Bishop Auckland

What is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe have?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe has 162 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe cover?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe is at Central Avenue, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, DL5 5NP.