Valley Gardens Middle School

North Tyneside · NE25 9AQ

General information Secondary School · 9-13 years Who goes here 768 pupils, 6% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN Resourced provision · 11.2% on SEN support Behaviour 4.1% absence rate Staff 12.4% turnover Financials £6,432 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Valley Gardens Middle School

General Information

Address: Valley Gardens, Whitley Bay, NE25 9AQ – View on map
Phone: 01919176667
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr David Godfrey
Age range: 9-13 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

768 pupils out of 771 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 46
% eligible for free school meals: 6.0%
Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the North Tyneside average)
English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 12.4% a year (North Tyneside 10.1%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 38% moved to another school, 62% 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

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 North Tyneside: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 23 (1.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 35 (2.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 12 (0.8 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in North Tyneside, 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: 4.1%
Persistently absent pupils: 6.2%
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

Resourced provision for Moderate learning difficulties

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 11.2%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Specific learning difficulty: 40 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 21 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 11 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 6 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Physical disability: 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 –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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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.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

An Attainment 8 score for this school hasn't been added yet.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,432 (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.

15th of 15 secondary schools in North Tyneside for spending per pupil

#13Wellfield Middle School£6,644
#14Marden Bridge Middle School£6,533
#15Valley Gardens Middle School£6,432

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

#1Norham High School£10,950
#2Monkseaton High School£9,416
#3John Spence Community High School£9,378
#4Burnside College£9,037
#5North Gosforth Academy£8,924
#6Monkseaton Coastal School£8,036
#7Longbenton High School£7,517
#8George Stephenson High School£7,474
#9Marden High School£7,153
#10St Thomas More Catholic High School£7,130
#11Kings Priory School£6,803
#12Whitley Bay High School£6,696
#13Wellfield Middle School£6,644
#14Marden Bridge Middle School£6,533
#15Valley Gardens Middle School£6,432

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

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