Pennywell Early Years Centre
Pennywell Early Years Centre is a local authority nursery school in Sunderland for boys and girls aged 2 to 5. It has 147 pupils. About 0 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Portsmouth Road, Pennywell, Pennywell Early Years Centre, Sunderland, SR4 9AX0789 167 7454pennywellearlyyears.org.ukMiss Ruth Williamson headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 17 June 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 3 November 2023 | Ungraded | School remains Outstanding (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Sunderland council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (1), Physical disability (1), language and communications needs (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 147 | 180 | 134 | 129 | 136 | 131 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 3% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 1% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 2% | 12% | 18% | 16% | 13% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 0% | 2% | 1% | 3% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy 360 | Academy | 130 m | 854 | Good 2022 | 5 | Compare |
| St Anne's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School | Roman Catholic | 240 m | 238 | Good 2022 | 85 | Compare |
| Christ's College | Free school | 550 m | 796 | Good 2023 | 34 | Compare |
| South Hylton Primary Academy | Academy | 710 m | 252 | Report card 2025 | 30 | Compare |
| North View Academy | Academy | 870 m | 71 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Sunderland | Academy | 0.7 miles | 240 | No overall grade 2024 | 70 | Compare |
| Broadway Junior School | Council | 0.7 miles | 227 | Good 2023 | 32 | Compare |
| Highfield Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 443 | Good 2022 | 85 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Pennywell Early Years Centre a good school?
Pennywell Early Years Centre doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it not judged at its last inspection in June 2025.
What is Pennywell Early Years Centre's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Pennywell Early Years Centre not judged at its last full inspection on 17 June 2025.
How many pupils does Pennywell Early Years Centre have?
147 pupils aged 2 to 5 were on the roll in January 2026.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Portsmouth Road, Pennywell, Pennywell Early Years Centre, Sunderland, SR4 9AX
- Telephone
- 0789 167 7454
- Website
- pennywellearlyyears.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Miss Ruth Williamson
- Type of school
- Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Nursery school, ages 2-5, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Ward
- St Anne's
- Constituency
- Houghton and Sunderland South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 1900 (not recorded)
- URN
- 108753 · LAESTAB 3941012
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.