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St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill

General Information

  • Address: Pemberton Road, Blackhill, Consett, DH8 8JD – View on map
  • Phone: 01207502657
  • Website: Visit school website
  • Headteacher: Mrs Victoria Ramshaw
  • Age range: 5-11 years
  • Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 26 families put it first for 26 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 11 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
  • Sixth form: No
  • Intake: Mixed
  • Religious character: Roman Catholic
  • Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

202 pupils out of 270 places Plenty of room
  • Pupils eligible for free school meals: 20
  • % eligible for free school meals: 9.9%
  • Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the County Durham average)
  • English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

  • Teacher turnover: 17.6% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
  • Where they went: about 24% moved to another school, 76% 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: 3.7%
  • Persistently absent pupils: 6.7%
  • Data year: 2024/25

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

  • Pupils on SEN Support: 12.9%
  • Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.0%
  • Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

  • Moderate learning difficulty: 11 pupils
  • Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
  • Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
  • Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
  • Vision impairment: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

  • Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
  • Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

Parent score - no reviews yet –
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Educational Attainment

Good 2024 report

Year 6 SATs results

  • Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 67% (England 62%)
  • Reached the higher standard: 7% (England 8%)
  • Compared with the area: 5 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
  • Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 60% against an expected 67%)
  • 3-year average (expected standard): 60%
  • Expected standard by subject: Reading 78% · Writing 67% · Maths 81% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 78%
  • Average test scores: reading 106, maths 104
  • Based on: 27 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

SATs results over time

2022/232023/242024/2555%61%67%
This schoolCounty Durham averageEngland Improving Up 12 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 5 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%).

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £5,637 (2024-25)

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