Collierley Nursery and Primary School

Collierley Nursery and Primary School is a smaller-than-average primary school in a relatively deprived area, serving a community with a higher-than-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. The school is performing at the expected standard across all inspected areas, with pupils typically achieving well by the end of key stage 2. Behaviour is a notable strength, and pupils are happy, safe, and attend well. The curriculum is well designed and tailored to the school's context, with a strong early years provision that gets children off to a positive start. Leaders have recently strengthened mathematics teaching and are beginning to improve writing, but inconsistencies remain across year groups and subjects. While the school has many strengths, including strong leadership, effective use of additional funding, and a caring and inclusive ethos, there are areas for further development. The teaching of writing, including grammar, spelling, and handwriting, is not consistently effective across all year groups, and some pupils struggle to make connections across different parts of the curriculum. Additionally, the monitoring of disadvantaged pupils' uptake of wider opportunities is less well developed. Leaders have a clear understanding of the school's priorities and are taking appropriate action to address these areas, supported by a committed staff and governance structure. Overall, this is a good school that provides a positive and nurturing environment for its pupils. The inspection findings indicate that the school is meeting the expected standard and has the capacity to improve further, particularly in ensuring that all pupils, including the most disadvantaged, achieve their full potential.

Strengths

• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, typically achieve well by the end of key stage 2.
• Behaviour in lessons is a strength, with high expectations and positive relationships.
• Pupils attend well and enjoy a range of rewards for good attendance.
• Leaders have designed a challenging curriculum tailored to the school's context.
• Mathematics teaching is strong, with embedded fluency and reasoning skills.
• Early years provision is well developed, giving children a positive start.
• Inclusion is effective, with strong support for pupils with SEND and positive feedback from parents.
• Leaders and governors are ambitious and provide appropriate challenge and support.
• Personal development is well planned, with a wide range of enrichment activities.
• Pupils feel safe and report that bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly.

Areas for Improvement

• Writing standards are inconsistent across year groups and subjects, with gaps in grammar, spelling, and handwriting.
• Pupils do not consistently make connections across different curriculum areas.
• Disadvantaged pupils' barriers to learning are not always precisely identified and addressed.
• Monitoring of disadvantaged pupils' uptake of wider opportunities is less well developed.
• Pupils' understanding of how learning about other faiths links to tolerance and respect is less well embedded.
• Quality assurance of pupils' work needs to be more rigorous to ensure writing standards improve.
• Occasional variation in how well activities in early years match children's starting points.

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 Collierley Nursery and Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.9% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Collierley Nursery and 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 Collierley Nursery and Primary School had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% 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, 17.0% of pupils at Collierley Nursery and Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.1% 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 Collierley Nursery and Primary School received £8,645 and spent £9,165 for each of its 137 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £36,000 (£260 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of Stanley Learning Partnership, income was £8,992 and spending £8,975 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.

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All schools in Stanley · County Durham local authority: places and applications

Collierley Nursery and Primary School is part of Stanley Learning Partnership, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Annfield Plain Junior School Stanley
• Annfield Plain Infant School Stanley
• South Stanley Infant and Nursery School Stanley
• South Stanley Junior School Stanley
• Greenland Community Primary School Stanley
• East Stanley School Stanley
• Bloemfontein Primary School Stanley
• Benfieldside Primary School Consett
• Burnhope Primary School Durham
• Langley Park Primary School Durham

What is Collierley Nursery and Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Collierley Nursery and Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Collierley Nursery and Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Collierley Nursery and Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Collierley Nursery and Primary School have?

Collierley Nursery and Primary School has 147 pupils on roll.

What age range does Collierley Nursery and Primary School cover?

Collierley Nursery and Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Collierley Nursery and Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Collierley Nursery and Primary School?

Collierley Nursery and Primary School is at Front Street, Dipton, Stanley, County Durham, DH9 9DJ.