St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley
St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley is a converter academy in Chester le Street for boys and girls aged 5 to 7. It has 68 pupils and room for 90. About 16 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England.
Mitchell Street, Birtley, Chester le Street, DH3 1LU0191 410 2324stjosephcatholicschoolsbirtley.orgMrs Kate Swaddle headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Roman Catholic school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
24 places were empty (27% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 25% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
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 Gateshead 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: language and communications needs (13), Autistic spectrum disorder (5), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (1), emotional and mental health (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 68 | 66 | 64 | 77 | 89 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 16% | 26% | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 25% | 27% | 16% | 20% | 15% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 24% | 19% | 17% | 21% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 0% | 3% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 3.7% | 5.1% | 5.0% | 6.5% | 4.0% | 3.9% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 2.4% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 5.0% | 2.7% | 3.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.3% | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 0.7% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 4.8% | 15.4% | 8.8% | 14.8% | 5.8% | 9.3% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 0.0 | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley, the school this one replaced in November 2021. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's Catholic Junior School, Birtley | Academy | 580 m | 105 | No overall grade 2025 | 93 | Compare |
| Ravensworth Terrace Primary School | Council | 650 m | 362 | Good 2024 | 52 | Compare |
| Birtley East Community Primary School | Council | 860 m | 189 | Not inspected | 45 | Compare |
| Portobello Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 182 | Good 2023 | 60 | Compare |
| Barley Mow Primary School | Council | 1.1 miles | 155 | Good 2024 | 21 | Compare |
| Blackfell Primary School | Council | 1.3 miles | 142 | Report card 2026 | 51 | Compare |
| Holley Park Academy | Academy | 1.3 miles | 204 | Good 2024 | 70 | Compare |
| Oxclose Primary Academy | Academy | 1.4 miles | 183 | Good 2022 | 31 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley yet.
How many pupils does St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley have?
68 pupils aged 5 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 90 places, so it is 76% full.
Is St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley oversubscribed?
Probably not. 24 places were empty in 2024/25 (27% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley?
Pupils were in school 96.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 5% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley?
The average class had 22.7 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Mitchell Street, Birtley, Chester le Street, DH3 1LU
- Telephone
- 0191 410 2324
- Website
- www.stjosephcatholicschoolsbirtley.org
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kate Swaddle
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 5-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic, Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
- Multi-academy trust
- Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust (46 schools)
- Local authority
- Gateshead
- Ward
- Birtley
- Constituency
- Washington and Gateshead South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 November 2021 (academy converter)
- URN
- 148809 · LAESTAB 3903325 · UKPRN 10089435
- Formerly
- St Joseph's Catholic Infant School, Birtley
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.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- 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.