Lumley Junior School

About Lumley Junior School

Lumley Junior School has been rated Good by Ofsted following its most recent ungraded inspection in April 2024, a significant improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2012 when it was judged to require improvement. The school’s leadership and management are also rated Good. On the most telling academic metric for a primary school, 72% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year. That is ten percentage points above the County Durham local authority average of 62%, placing Lumley 46th out of 170 primary schools in the area and in the top 50 locally. Nationally, it sits in the top 27% of all primary schools for this combined measure. The school’s ranking score of 72 reflects solid, above-average performance for a junior school serving a community where 28% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

Digging into the individual subject scores, the school’s strongest result at Key Stage 2 was in writing, where 89% of pupils reached the expected standard, followed by maths at 87% and reading at 79%. Higher-standard attainment – meaning pupils working at a greater depth – was more modest: 21% in maths, 19% in reading and 17% in writing, with just 9% achieving the higher standard across all three subjects. Average scaled scores were 106 in maths and 105 in reading, both slightly above the national average of 100. The school does not publish progress scores for reading, writing or maths, so it is not possible to say how much value it adds relative to pupils’ starting points. However, the combination of a Good Ofsted rating and above-average attainment suggests a school that is delivering solid academic outcomes for its 182 pupils, particularly in writing and maths.

Lumley Junior School is a state-funded, mixed primary for children aged 7 to 11, with no nursery or sixth form provision. It is housed in a building that includes an art studio, library, sensory room, sports hall, ICT suite, music rooms, playing fields and a chapel. Sports on offer include football, athletics, cricket and cross country, while clubs range from eco club and film club to science club, art club, coding and chess. The school has a broad range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. With 182 pupils against a capacity of 196, the school is not oversubscribed, which may give families outside the immediate catchment a realistic chance of securing a place. This is a solid, improving junior school that suits families looking for above-average academic outcomes in a supportive, well-resourced setting.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About Lumley Junior School

Helpful Guides for Parents