Ropery Walk Primary School
General Information
- Address: Ropery Walk, Seaham, SR7 7JZ – View on map
- Phone: 01915813959
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Chloe Black
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 31 families put it first for 31 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 72
- % eligible for free school meals: 32.9%
- Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (similar to the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 4% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 11% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 21% moved to another school, 79% 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
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: 4.3%
- Persistently absent pupils: 8.1%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 20.1%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.3%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 17 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 16 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2016 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 68% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 12% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 6 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 64% against an expected 64%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 64%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 74% · Writing 76% · Maths 91% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 88%
- Average test scores: reading 106, maths 108
- Based on: 34 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 69th of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =66Newker Primary School69%
- =66St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Crook69%
- =69Ropery Walk Primary School68%
- =69Wheatley Hill Community Primary School68%
- =71Bloemfontein Primary School67%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
73rd of 141 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #71Red Rose Primary SchoolGood
- #72Ribbon SchoolGood
- #73Ropery Walk Primary SchoolGood
- #74Rosa Street Primary and Nursery AcademyGood
- #75Roseberry Primary and Nursery SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,688 (2024-25)
95th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #93King Street Primary School£7,715
- #94Shield Row Primary School£7,700
- #95Ropery Walk Primary School£7,688
- #96Kelloe Primary School£7,684
- #97Our Lady and St Thomas Catholic Primary School, Willington£7,683
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)