St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Cullercoats

About St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Cullercoats

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Cullercoats, sits within the North Tyneside local authority and ranks third out of 38 primary schools in the area, placing it comfortably in the top 25 per cent nationally. Its closest competitors on the local leaderboard are Cullercoats Primary School and New York Primary School, both scoring 82 on the same ranking metric, with Hazlewood Community Primary School just behind at 79. The school is a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged three to eleven, with a current roll of 198 children against a capacity of 210. It has nursery provision but no sixth form. Headteacher Colette Bland leads a school that, in its most recent Ofsted inspection, was rated Good overall, with all five graded categories — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — each judged Good. This represents a change from the school's previous inspection in 2015, when it was rated Outstanding.

Academically, St Mary's performs well above the local authority average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 80 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a North Tyneside average of 62 per cent. The school's ranking score of 80 is based on this combined measure. In reading, 93 per cent met the expected standard and 53 per cent reached the higher standard; in maths, 83 per cent met the expected standard and 47 per cent reached the higher standard. Average scaled scores were 109 in reading and 108 in maths. Writing saw 87 per cent at the expected level and 27 per cent at the higher level. The school's most recent ungraded Ofsted inspection, carried out in March 2025, confirmed that standards are being maintained. Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive: 96 per cent of respondents would recommend the school, and 99 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy there.

The school is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, there were 45 applications for 22 places, with 21 offers made to first-preference applicants. Facilities include a chapel, library, gymnasium, art studios, ICT suite, outdoor playground and playing fields. Sports on offer include netball, swimming, rounders, cricket, tennis and athletics, while clubs include gardening, book club and eco club. The school has identified SEND provisions covering specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. Among parents who responded to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, 25 per cent said their child has SEND, and all of those agreed the school gives them the support they need. This is a school that suits families looking for strong academic outcomes within a faith-based setting, particularly those who value a tight-knit, oversubscribed community with high parental satisfaction.

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