Whinney Banks Primary School

Middlesbrough · TS5 4QQ

General information Primary School · 2-11 years Who goes here 443 pupils, 45.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 16% on SEN support Behaviour 6.3% absence rate Staff 7.8% turnover Financials £7,344 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Whinney Banks Primary School

General Information

Address: Fakenham Avenue, Middlesbrough, TS5 4QQ – View on map
Phone: 01642817713
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Sandy Thorpe
Age range: 2-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 39 families put it first for 43 places – 9 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 9 · 2025 9 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

443 pupils out of 420 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 183
% eligible for free school meals: 45.8%
Pupil mix: 5 in 10 (similar to the Middlesbrough average)
English as an additional language: 16% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 7.8% a year (Middlesbrough 10.5%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 40% moved to another school, 60% 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

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 Middlesbrough: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 2 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 0 (0.0 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 Middlesbrough, 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: 6.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 22.7%
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: 16.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 22 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 17 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 13 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Physical disability: 4 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils

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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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.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2025 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.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 76% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 5% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 11 percentage points above the Middlesbrough average (65%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 69% against an expected 55%)
3-year average (expected standard): 69%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 88% · Writing 81% · Maths 90% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 86%
Average test scores: reading 108, maths 109
Based on: 59 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 schoolMiddlesbrough averageEngland↗ Improving Up 15 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 11 percentage points above the Middlesbrough average (65%).

Year 6 SATs: 8th of 40 junior and primary schools in the area

#6Beech Grove Primary School81%
#7Brambles Primary Academy80%
#8Whinney Banks Primary School76%
=9Captain Cook Primary School75%
=9Newham Bridge Primary School75%

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

=1Lingfield Primary School89%
=1St Augustine's Catholic Primary School89%
#3Linthorpe Community Primary School88%
#4Lift Caldicotes85%
#5Chandlers Ridge Academy82%
#6Beech Grove Primary School81%
#7Brambles Primary Academy80%
#8Whinney Banks Primary School76%
=9Captain Cook Primary School75%
=9Newham Bridge Primary School75%
#11Thorntree Academy74%
=12Archibald Primary School73%
=12The Avenue Primary School73%
=14Kader Academy72%
=14Marton Manor Primary School72%
=16Breckon Hill Primary School70%
=16Green Lane Primary Academy70%
#18Newport Primary School68%
=19Easterside Academy67%
=19St Clare's RC Primary School67%
=21Rose Wood Academy66%
=21St Alphonsus' Catholic Primary School66%
=23Pennyman Primary Academy64%
=23St Joseph's Catholic Primary School64%
#25Lift North Ormesby63%
#26Abingdon Primary School62%
#27St Edward's Catholic Primary School61%
#28St Gerard's RC Primary School60%
#29Pallister Park Primary School59%
=30Hemlington Hall Academy57%
=30St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School57%
#32Viewley Hill Academy51%
#33Sacred Heart Primary School49%
#34Ayresome Primary School46%
#35Park End Primary School44%
=36Berwick Hills Primary School40%
=36St Pius X Catholic Primary School, a Catholic Voluntary Academy40%
#38Corpus Christi RC Primary School39%
#39Sunnyside Academy37%
#40St Thomas More RC Primary School33%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,344 (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 41 primary schools in Middlesbrough for spending per pupil

#13St Gerard's RC Primary School£7,375
#14Berwick Hills Primary School£7,370
#15Whinney Banks Primary School£7,344
#16Archibald Primary School£7,290
#17Lift North Ormesby£7,199

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

#1Sunnyside Academy£11,443
#2Pennyman Primary Academy£10,906
#3Park End Primary School£9,177
#4Hemlington Hall Academy£8,923
#5Beech Grove Primary School£8,185
#6Newport Primary School£8,118
#7Pallister Park Primary School£7,696
#8Viewley Hill Academy£7,658
#9Marton Manor Primary School£7,639
#10Thorntree Academy£7,629
#11Brambles Primary Academy£7,550
#12Easterside Academy£7,536
#13St Gerard's RC Primary School£7,375
#14Berwick Hills Primary School£7,370
#15Whinney Banks Primary School£7,344
#16Archibald Primary School£7,290
#17Lift North Ormesby£7,199
#18St Thomas More RC Primary School£7,074
#19Breckon Hill Primary School£7,047
#20Lift Caldicotes£7,030
#21Ayresome Primary School£6,973
#22Newham Bridge Primary School£6,772
#23Abingdon Primary School£6,757
#24Linthorpe Community Primary School£6,694
#25Green Lane Primary Academy£6,404
#26St Pius X Catholic Primary School, a Catholic Voluntary Academy£6,238
#27Kader Academy£6,193
#28Rose Wood Academy£6,144
#29Lingfield Primary School£6,069
#30Captain Cook Primary School£6,039
#31Sacred Heart Primary School£6,020
#32Corpus Christi RC Primary School£5,802
#33The Avenue Primary School£5,753
#34St Alphonsus' Catholic Primary School£5,612
#35St Augustine's Catholic Primary School£5,595
#36Chandlers Ridge Academy£5,426
#37St Joseph's Catholic Primary School£5,396
#38St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School£5,276
#39St Clare's RC Primary School£5,171
#40St Edward's Catholic Primary School£5,072
#41Acklam Whin Primary School£4,290

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

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