Westlea Primary School
General Information
- Address: Winslow Crescent, Westlea Estate, Seaham, SR7 8JU – View on map
- Phone: 01915813658
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Deborah Scothern
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 33 families put it first for 33 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: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 100
- % eligible for free school meals: 42.9%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 6% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 3% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
- Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% 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. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.
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: 5.9%
- Persistently absent pupils: 17.0%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 28.7%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.0%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 23 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 20 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 15 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 5 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Severe learning difficulty: 3 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
- Vision impairment: 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: 77% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 9% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 15 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 70% against an expected 46%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 70%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 86% · Writing 77% · Maths 91% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 86%
- Average test scores: reading 106, maths 108
- Based on: 22 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 28th of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =28Lumley Junior School77%
- =28St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Chester-Le-Street77%
- =28Westlea Primary School77%
- =32Kelloe Primary School76%
- =32St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School76%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
125th of 141 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #123West Pelton Primary SchoolGood
- #124West Rainton Primary SchoolGood
- #125Westlea Primary SchoolGood
- #126Wheatley Hill Community Primary SchoolGood
- #127Willington Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,528 (2024-25)
105th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #103Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School£7,553
- #104St Andrew's Academy£7,535
- #105Westlea Primary School£7,528
- #106St Helen Auckland Community Primary School£7,486
- #107Greenland Community Primary School£7,483
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)