Roman Road Primary School

About Roman Road Primary School

Roman Road Primary School in Gateshead sits at 46th out of 61 primary schools in the local authority, placing it in the bottom half of the table. Its headline Key Stage 2 measure — the percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths — stands at 55%, which is nine percentage points below the Gateshead average of 64%. That gap is meaningful, but it tells only part of the story. The school serves a community with 45.2% of pupils eligible for free school meals, more than double the national average, so raw attainment figures need to be read in that context. Where the school really stands out is in its recent Ofsted journey. In July 2022 it was rated Inadequate overall, with leadership and management also marked Inadequate. By March 2023, just eight months later, inspectors returned and awarded a Good rating across every category — quality of education, behaviour, personal development, early years and leadership. That turnaround is unusually swift and suggests a school that has fundamentally changed direction under headteacher Emma Monaghan.

Academically, the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results show a mixed picture. In writing, 72% of pupils met the expected standard, comfortably above the national benchmark, and 66% did so in reading. Maths was weaker at 62%, and the combined expected standard of 55% is where the school falls behind the LA average. At the higher standard, the numbers are low: 14% in reading and maths, and just 3% in writing. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is hard to say how much value the school adds relative to starting points, but the Ofsted report from March 2023 noted that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are well supported, and the school has a broad range of SEND provisions on offer, including support for autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social and emotional mental health. The early years provision was also rated Good, which matters for a school with nursery provision for children from age three.

The school is oversubscribed: for 24 places in the 2025/26 intake, it received 42 applications, with 23 of those as first preferences, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.75. That suggests local families are choosing it despite the middling headline results. Facilities include a library, sports hall, playing fields, a sensory room, forest school area and even a chapel. Clubs run the gamut from chess and coding to gardening and choir, and the sports programme covers cross country, netball, gymnastics and athletics among others. For families in Gateshead looking for a primary that has stabilised quickly after a difficult period, offers strong early years provision and is clearly popular locally, Roman Road is worth a closer look — especially if your child would benefit from the kind of SEND support the school explicitly provides.

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