Ridgeway Primary Academy

South Tyneside · NE34 8AB

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 452 pupils, 48.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 31.2% on SEN support Behaviour 6.8% absence rate Staff 11.8% turnover Financials £7,936 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Ridgeway Primary Academy

General Information

Address: Park Avenue, South Shields, NE34 8AB – View on map
Phone: 01914552865
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Alex Golden
Age range: 3-11 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

452 pupils out of 472 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 199
% eligible for free school meals: 48.2%
Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the South Tyneside average)
English as an additional language: 4% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 11.8% a year (South Tyneside 10.2%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 39% moved to another school, 61% 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.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across South Tyneside: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 1 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 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 South Tyneside, 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: 6.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 19.5%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 31.2%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 61 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 39 pupils
Physical disability: 14 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 12 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 10 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 10 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card February 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Needs attention

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 51% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 2% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 12 percentage points below the South Tyneside average (63%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 51% against an expected 50%)
3-year average (expected standard): 51%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 64% · Writing 69% · Maths 66% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 68%
Average test scores: reading 102, maths 103
Based on: 59 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

This schoolSouth Tyneside averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 12 percentage points below the South Tyneside average (63%).

Year 6 SATs: 32nd of 38 junior and primary schools in the area

=29Fellgate Primary School54%
=29Mortimer Primary School54%
#32Ridgeway Primary Academy51%
#33St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow50%
#34St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow48%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Biddick Hall Junior School87%
#2Stanhope Primary School86%
=3St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow82%
=3West Boldon Primary School82%
#5East Boldon Junior School81%
#6Cleadon Church of England Academy79%
=7SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, South Shields77%
=7St Bede's Catholic Primary School, South Shields77%
#9Hedworth Lane Primary School76%
#10St Mary's Catholic Primary School74%
#11St James' Catholic Primary School, Hebburn73%
=12Harton Primary School70%
=12St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, South Shields70%
=12Valley View Primary School70%
=15Lord Blyton Primary School68%
=15St Aloysius Catholic Junior School Academy68%
=15St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, South Shields68%
=18Forest View Primary67%
=18Marsden Primary School67%
#20St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School66%
=21Jarrow Cross CofE Primary School65%
=21Laygate Community School65%
=23Sea View Primary School64%
=23Westoe Crown Primary School64%
#25Holy Trinity Church of England Academy (South Shields)62%
#26Hedworthfield Primary School60%
#27Toner Avenue Primary School57%
#28Hadrian Primary School56%
=29Bede Burn Primary School54%
=29Fellgate Primary School54%
=29Mortimer Primary School54%
#32Ridgeway Primary Academy51%
#33St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow50%
#34St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow48%
#35Ashley Academy45%
#36Simonside Primary School37%
#37Hebburn Lakes Primary School31%
#38Monkton Academy28%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,936 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

8th of 37 primary schools in South Tyneside for spending per pupil

#6Laygate Community School£8,471
#7Sea View Primary School£8,227
#8Ridgeway Primary Academy£7,936
#9St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School£7,892
#10Forest View Primary£7,782

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Fellgate Primary School£11,883
#2Hedworthfield Primary School£10,715
#3Lord Blyton Primary School£9,150
#4West Boldon Primary School£8,724
#5Simonside Primary School£8,561
#6Laygate Community School£8,471
#7Sea View Primary School£8,227
#8Ridgeway Primary Academy£7,936
#9St Oswald's CofE Aided Primary School£7,892
#10Forest View Primary£7,782
#11Stanhope Primary School£7,738
#12Jarrow Cross CofE Primary School£7,501
#13Holy Trinity Church of England Academy (South Shields)£7,501
#14Hebburn Lakes Primary School£7,456
#15St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow£7,431
#16Marsden Primary School£7,420
#17Hadrian Primary School£7,404
#18St James' Catholic Primary School, Hebburn£7,378
#19St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, South Shields£7,200
#20St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, South Shields£6,876
#21Harton Primary School£6,862
#22Ashley Academy£6,807
#23SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, South Shields£6,694
#24St Mary's Catholic Primary School£6,655
#25Valley View Primary School£6,561
#26Bede Burn Primary School£6,447
#27Hedworth Lane Primary School£6,389
#28Dunn Street Primary School£6,385
#29St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow£6,356
#30Toner Avenue Primary School£6,222
#31St Bede's Catholic Primary School, South Shields£6,044
#32St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Jarrow£5,976
#33Cleadon Church of England Academy£5,963
#34Westoe Crown Primary School£5,955
#35Mortimer Primary School£5,610
#36Marine Park Primary School£5,598
#37Whitburn Village Primary School£4,805

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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