St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Highfield

Gateshead · NE39 2JE

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 81 pupils, 30.9% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 40.7% on SEN support Behaviour 3.2% absence rate Staff 6.7% turnover Financials £8,539 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

We haven't asked this school for its behaviour and staffing figures yet. Sign up to tell us you'd like them, and we'll email you when they arrive.

Notify me

Your email address

Leave this empty

We'll email you a link to confirm first. Your address is only used for news about this school, and every email has a link to stop them. Privacy

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Highfield

General Information

Address: Whinfield Way, Highfield, Rowlands Gill, NE39 2JE – View on map
Phone: 01207545972
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Joanna Bircham
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 6 families put it first for 6 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 1 of the 6 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 8 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

81 pupils out of 105 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 25
% eligible for free school meals: 30.9%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (less mixed than the Gateshead average)
English as an additional language: 11% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 6.7% a year (Gateshead 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% 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

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 Gateshead: 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: 3 (0.2 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 Gateshead, 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: 3.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 5.2%
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: 40.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 0.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 21 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil

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 –

Be the first to review — win £100 of books for your school Every honest review enters you into our prize draw

Behaviour

–

Openness

–

Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

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.

–

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.

–

Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 80% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 7% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 16 percentage points above the Gateshead average (64%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 49% against an expected 62%)
3-year average (expected standard): 49%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 93% · Writing 80% · Maths 87% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 73%
Average test scores: reading 108, maths 105
Based on: 15 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 schoolGateshead averageEngland↗ Improving Up 56 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 16 percentage points above the Gateshead average (64%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 11th of 62 junior and primary schools in the area

=11Brighton Avenue Primary School80%
=11Ryton Junior School80%
=11St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Highfield80%
=11St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Low Fell80%
=11Whickham Parochial Church of England Primary School80%

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

#1Clover Hill Community Primary School93%
=2Fellside Community Primary School90%
=2St Mary & St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School, Blaydon90%
=2St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whickham90%
#5St Anne's Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green85%
=6Blaydon West Primary School83%
=6Greenside Primary School83%
=8Front Street Community Primary School82%
=8St Agnes' Catholic Primary School, Crawcrook82%
#10St Aidan's Church of England Primary School81%
=11Brighton Avenue Primary School80%
=11Ryton Junior School80%
=11St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Highfield80%
=11St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Low Fell80%
=11Whickham Parochial Church of England Primary School80%
#16Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, Gateshead79%
=17South Street Community Primary School76%
=17St Joseph's Catholic Junior School, Birtley76%
#19Emmaville Primary School75%
=20Caedmon Community Primary School74%
=20Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Byermoor74%
#22Bill Quay Primary School72%
=23High Spen Primary School71%
=23Kibblesworth Academy71%
=23Portobello Primary School71%
=26Brandling Primary School70%
=26Crookhill Community Primary School70%
=26Wardley Primary School70%
#29Carr Hill Community Primary School69%
=30Riverside Primary Academy68%
=30St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, Dunston68%
=32Falla Park Community Primary School67%
=32Windy Nook Primary School67%
#34St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Blaydon66%
#35Lobley Hill Primary School65%
=36Harlow Green Community Primary School64%
=36St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead64%
=38Kells Lane Primary School62%
=38St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead62%
=40Chopwell Primary School60%
=40Dunston Hill Community Primary School60%
=40Ravensworth Terrace Primary School60%
#43Birtley East Community Primary School59%
=44Barley Mow Primary School57%
=44Highfield Community Primary School57%
=44Roman Road Primary School57%
=44Washingwell Community Primary School57%
=48Bede Community Primary School56%
=48Glynwood Community Primary School56%
=48St Oswald's Catholic Primary, Wrekenton56%
=51Fell Dyke Community Primary School55%
=51The Drive Community Primary School55%
#53Swalwell Primary School54%
=54West Lane Primary School53%
=54White Mere Community Primary School53%
#56Rowlands Gill Community Primary School52%
#57Kelvin Grove Community Primary School48%
#58Lingey House Primary School47%
#59Larkspur Community Primary School42%
#60St Alban's Catholic Primary School, Pelaw41%
#61Parkhead Community Primary School40%
#62St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead39%

View full Ofsted inspection report

40th of 49 primary schools in Gateshead for Ofsted rating

#38St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, BlaydonGood
#39St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, GatesheadGood
#40St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, HighfieldGood
#41St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Low FellGood
#42St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, DunstonGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, GatesheadOutstanding
#2Front Street Community Primary SchoolOutstanding
#3Greenside Primary SchoolOutstanding
#4Barley Mow Primary SchoolGood
#5Bede Community Primary SchoolGood
#6Bill Quay Primary SchoolGood
#7Birtley East Community Primary SchoolGood
#8Blaydon West Primary SchoolGood
#9Brandling Primary SchoolGood
#10Caedmon Community Primary SchoolGood
#11Carr Hill Community Primary SchoolGood
#12Chopwell Primary SchoolGood
#13Clover Hill Community Primary SchoolGood
#14Crookhill Community Primary SchoolGood
#15Dunston Hill Community Primary SchoolGood
#16Falla Park Community Primary SchoolGood
#17Fell Dyke Community Primary SchoolGood
#18Fellside Community Primary SchoolGood
#19Harlow Green Community Primary SchoolGood
#20High Spen Primary SchoolGood
#21Highfield Community Primary SchoolGood
#22Kells Lane Primary SchoolGood
#23Kibblesworth AcademyGood
#24Lingey House Primary SchoolGood
#25Lobley Hill Primary SchoolGood
#26Parkhead Community Primary SchoolGood
#27Portobello Primary SchoolGood
#28Ravensworth Terrace Primary SchoolGood
#29Riverside Primary AcademyGood
#30Roman Road Primary SchoolGood
#31Rowlands Gill Community Primary SchoolGood
#32Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, ByermoorGood
#33South Street Community Primary SchoolGood
#34St Aidan's Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#35St Alban's Catholic Primary School, PelawGood
#36St Anne's Catholic Primary School, Harlow GreenGood
#37St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, GatesheadGood
#38St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, BlaydonGood
#39St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, GatesheadGood
#40St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, HighfieldGood
#41St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Low FellGood
#42St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, DunstonGood
#43Swalwell Primary SchoolGood
#44The Drive Community Primary SchoolGood
#45Washingwell Community Primary SchoolGood
#46West Lane Primary SchoolGood
#47Whickham Parochial Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#48White Mere Community Primary SchoolGood
#49Windy Nook Primary SchoolGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,539 (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.

5th of 60 primary schools in Gateshead for spending per pupil

#3Rowlands Gill Community Primary School£9,744
#4Highfield Community Primary School£9,450
#5St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Highfield£8,539
#6Larkspur Community Primary School£8,479
#7South Street Community Primary School£8,261

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

#1Bede Community Primary School£10,598
#2Swalwell Primary School£10,534
#3Rowlands Gill Community Primary School£9,744
#4Highfield Community Primary School£9,450
#5St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Highfield£8,539
#6Larkspur Community Primary School£8,479
#7South Street Community Primary School£8,261
#8Brandling Primary School£8,237
#9Barley Mow Primary School£8,101
#10Carr Hill Community Primary School£8,100
#11Falla Park Community Primary School£8,065
#12Chopwell Primary School£7,827
#13High Spen Primary School£7,772
#14Fell Dyke Community Primary School£7,756
#15Harlow Green Community Primary School£7,731
#16Caedmon Community Primary School£7,716
#17Kibblesworth Academy£7,657
#18St Anne's Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green£7,655
#19St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, Dunston£7,609
#20Birtley East Community Primary School£7,556
#21Washingwell Community Primary School£7,537
#22St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead£7,450
#23Greenside Primary School£7,386
#24White Mere Community Primary School£7,319
#25Roman Road Primary School£7,314
#26Dunston Hill Community Primary School£7,309
#27Kelvin Grove Community Primary School£7,286
#28Blaydon West Primary School£7,208
#29Parkhead Community Primary School£7,184
#30St Oswald's Catholic Primary, Wrekenton£7,165
#31St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead£7,163
#32Lobley Hill Primary School£7,127
#33Lingey House Primary School£7,097
#34The Drive Community Primary School£6,979
#35Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, Gateshead£6,575
#36West Lane Primary School£6,575
#37Bill Quay Primary School£6,570
#38Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Byermoor£6,563
#39Crookhill Community Primary School£6,486
#40Brighton Avenue Primary School£6,429
#41Glynwood Community Primary School£6,428
#42Wardley Primary School£6,407
#43Portobello Primary School£6,358
#44St Aidan's Church of England Primary School£6,276
#45St Alban's Catholic Primary School, Pelaw£6,255
#46Front Street Community Primary School£6,240
#47Windy Nook Primary School£6,239
#48Emmaville Primary School£6,060
#49Whickham Parochial Church of England Primary School£5,957
#50Ravensworth Terrace Primary School£5,951
#51St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead£5,917
#52Fellside Community Primary School£5,835
#53Kells Lane Primary School£5,779
#54St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whickham£5,741
#55St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Blaydon£5,684
#56Clover Hill Community Primary School£5,560
#57St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Low Fell£5,505
#58St Mary & St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School, Blaydon£5,357
#59St Agnes' Catholic Primary School, Crawcrook£5,269
#60Riverside Primary Academy£2,694

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

Have you rated St Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Highfield yet? Your experience helps other parents.

Rate this school