Staindrop CofE (Controlled) Primary School

About Staindrop CofE (Controlled) Primary School

Staindrop CofE (Controlled) Primary School sits comfortably above the County Durham average for its key stage 2 headline measure. While the local authority average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined sits at 62%, Staindrop achieves 85% — a substantial 23 percentage point gap. That performance places the school 11th out of 170 primary schools in the county, putting it in the top 10% locally and the top 6% nationally. It’s a strong showing for a relatively small village school of 181 pupils, and it suggests that whatever is happening in the classroom is working well for most children. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good overall, with Outstanding marks for personal development and for behaviour and attitudes — two areas that often underpin strong academic results.

Digging into the detail of those key stage 2 results, the picture is even more encouraging. Every single pupil met the expected standard in reading, and 65% reached the higher standard — a figure that would be impressive in any context. In maths, 85% hit the expected mark and 69% reached the higher threshold, with an average scaled score of 110. Writing was the relative weak spot, with 88% at expected and 23% at the higher level, but that still puts the school well ahead of the LA average. The Ofsted inspection noted that the quality of education is Good, and that leadership and management are also Good, while early years provision is Good too. The previous inspection in 2010 had rated the school Outstanding across the board, so the 2023 judgement represents a slight downgrade, but the inspectors were clear that behaviour, attitudes and personal development remain Outstanding.

The school has a Church of England character and a headteacher, Steven Whelerton, who leads a team serving children from age 3 to 11. There’s a nursery on site, and the school offers a Forest School programme alongside facilities including a library, music rooms, a chapel and playing fields. Sports on offer include tennis, cricket, dance, athletics and rounders, and there are clubs for drama, chess and film. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, speech and language needs, physical disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. Admissions for 2025/26 show the school was oversubscribed: 27 applications for 20 places, with 18 first-preference offers made. That oversubscription ratio of 1.35 suggests a school that local families are keen to get into, and the data backs up why.

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