Cestria Primary School
General Information
- Address: Church Chare, Chester le Street, DH3 3PZ – View on map
- Phone: 01913882483
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Lorraine Gowland
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 60 families put it first for 60 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 1 of the 60 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 12 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 58
- % eligible for free school meals: 13.8%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 7% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 1.7% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
- Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across County Durham: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 12 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 5 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in County Durham, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 3.0%
- Persistently absent pupils: 4.3%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 11.3%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.2%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 27 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 3 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2019 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 74% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 21% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 12 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 85% against an expected 65%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 85%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 95% · Writing 90% · Maths 79% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 78%
- Average test scores: reading 108, maths 105
- Based on: 58 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: joint 38th of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =36St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Seaham75%
- =38All Saints' Catholic Primary School, Lanchester74%
- =38Cestria Primary School74%
- =38Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School74%
- =38South Stanley Junior School74%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
25th of 141 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #23Castleside Primary SchoolGood
- #24Catchgate Primary SchoolGood
- #25Cestria Primary SchoolGood
- #26Chilton AcademyGood
- #27Cockfield Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,044 (2024-25)
173rd of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #171Ouston Primary School£6,083
- #172Woodlea Primary School£6,064
- #173Cestria Primary School£6,044
- #174Lanchester Endowed Parochial Primary School£6,033
- #175St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley£6,027
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)