Witton-le-Wear Primary School
General Information
- Address: Witton-le-Wear Primary School, St James Gardens, Bishop Auckland, DL14 0BG – View on map
- Phone: 01388488350
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Louise Templeton
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 17 families put it first for 15 places – 11 for every 10 places. 88% of them were offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 7 · 2025 10 · 2026 11
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 12
- % eligible for free school meals: 11.5%
- Pupil mix: 0 in 10 (less mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 0% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 23.4% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- 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 2 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: 3.9%
- Persistently absent pupils: 4.3%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 14.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.8%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 9 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 2 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
- Multi-sensory impairment: 1 pupil
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: 56% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 13% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 6 percentage points below the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 60% against an expected 66%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 60%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 63% · Writing 94% · Maths 81% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 88%
- Average test scores: reading 105, maths 106
- Based on: 16 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 123rd of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =123Stanhope Barrington CofE Primary School56%
- =123Willington Primary School56%
- =123Witton-le-Wear Primary School56%
- #128Green Lane Church of England Primary School55%
- =129Cockton Hill Junior School54%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,117 (2024-25)
123rd of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #121Roseberry Primary and Nursery School£7,187
- #122Staindrop CofE (Controlled) Primary School£7,162
- #123Witton-le-Wear Primary School£7,117
- #124Ribbon School£7,085
- #125Seaham Trinity Primary School£7,016
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)