St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
General Information
- Address: Garburn Place, Durham, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 7DE – View on map
- Phone: 01325300337
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Headteacher Kirsty Evans
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 20 families put it first for 20 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 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 51
- % eligible for free school meals: 40.5%
- Pupil mix: 5 in 10 (more mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 19% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 26.7% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 75% moved to another school, 25% 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
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: 6.0%
- Persistently absent pupils: 20.4%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 14.7%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.0%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 8 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 7 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- 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 2022 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 84% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 22 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 76% against an expected 62%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 76%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 84% · Writing 84% · Maths 89% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 84%
- Average test scores: reading 106, maths 105
- Based on: 19 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 14th of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =14Cleves Cross Primary and Nursery School Academy84%
- =14Coxhoe Primary School84%
- =14St Joseph's Catholic Primary School84%
- =14Staindrop CofE (Controlled) Primary School84%
- =18Kirk Merrington Primary School83%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
99th of 141 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #97St John's Chapel Primary SchoolGood
- #98St John's Church of England Aided Primary School, ShildonGood
- #99St Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #100St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, MurtonGood
- #101St Joseph's Catholic Primary, StanleyGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £11,649 (2024-25)
11th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #9Ferryhill Station Primary School£12,187
- #10Laurel Avenue Community Primary School£11,887
- #11St Joseph's Catholic Primary School£11,649
- #12Butterknowle Primary School£11,643
- #13St Michael's Church of England Primary School£11,521
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)