St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe
General Information
- Address: Central Avenue, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 5NP – View on map
- Phone: 01325300339
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Emily Milward
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 12 families put it first for 12 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 8 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 76
- % eligible for free school meals: 46.9%
- Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (more mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 6% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 35.7% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 46% moved to another school, 54% 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: 5.2%
- Persistently absent pupils: 12.1%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 21.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.3%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 15 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 4 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
No overall grade given 2025 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 66% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 3% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 4 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 62% against an expected 58%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 62%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 79% · Writing 83% · Maths 66% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 66%
- Average test scores: reading 106, maths 102
- Based on: 29 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 82nd of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =71St Thomas More Primary School, Belmont67%
- =82Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School66%
- =82St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe66%
- =84Blue Coat CofE (Aided) Junior School65%
- =84Bournmoor Primary School65%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,481 (2024-25)
155th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #153Tudhoe Colliery Primary School£6,544
- #154Sugar Hill Primary School£6,494
- #155St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe£6,481
- #156St Anne's CofE Primary School£6,471
- #157Byerley Park Primary School£6,461
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)