John F Kennedy Primary School
Station Road, Columbia, Washington, NE38 7AR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- OAK LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Brian Adams
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Oak Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Washington and Gateshead South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 441
- Pupils on roll
- 412
- URN
- 144223
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01914906454
About this school
John F Kennedy Primary School is a primary academy in Washington. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 412 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 61 | 52 | 62 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 54% | 73% | 65% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 10% | 25% | 18% |
| Expected standard in reading | 69% | 81% | 69% |
| Expected standard in maths | 67% | 77% | 74% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 64% | 79% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.20 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How John F Kennedy Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Sunderland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 54% | 60.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 73% | 63.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 65% | 63% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 441 |
| 2023/24 | 439 |
| 2024/25 | 424 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How John F Kennedy Primary School compares
John F Kennedy Primary School ranked 42nd of 75 primary schools in Sunderland for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 65% | 6.1% | 25.9% | 412 | — |
| Barmston Village Primary School | 60% | 5.4% | 64.5% | 206 | 0.3 miles |
| Biddick Primary School | 83% | 4.5% | 13.7% | 285 | 0.4 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington | 72% | 3.6% | 11.6% | 227 | 0.5 miles |
| Wessington Primary School | 23% | 6.2% | 48.5% | 218 | 0.5 miles |
| Fatfield Academy | 74% | 5% | 20% | 233 | 1.0 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 25.93%
- English as an additional language
- 2.8%
- Overall absence
- 6.09%
- Persistent absence
- 16.71%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Barmston Village Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Washington
-
Biddick Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Washington
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington0.5 miles
Primary · Washington
-
Wessington Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Washington
-
Fatfield Academy1.0 miles
Primary · Washington
Other schools in Washington
John F Kennedy Primary School ranks 10th of the 17 ranked primary schools in Washington.
- Albany Village Primary School Primary
- Barmston Village Primary School Primary
- Biddick Primary School Primary
- Blackfell Primary School Primary
- Fatfield Academy Primary
- George Washington Primary School Primary
- Holley Park Academy Primary
- Lambton Primary School Primary
- Marlborough Primary School Primary
- Oxclose Primary Academy Primary
- Rickleton Primary School Primary
- St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Washington Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does John F Kennedy Primary School teach?
- John F Kennedy Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Washington.
- Who is the headteacher of John F Kennedy Primary School?
- The headteacher of John F Kennedy Primary School is Mr Brian Adams, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was John F Kennedy Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected John F Kennedy Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is John F Kennedy Primary School?
- John F Kennedy Primary School has 412 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is John F Kennedy Primary School full?
- John F Kennedy Primary School has capacity for 441 pupils and 412 on roll (93%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is John F Kennedy Primary School a faith school?
- No. John F Kennedy Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does John F Kennedy Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records John F Kennedy Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs John F Kennedy Primary School?
- John F Kennedy Primary School is part of OAK LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does John F Kennedy Primary School have?
- The schools register lists John F Kennedy Primary School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have John F Kennedy Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 54% in 2022/23 and 65% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does John F Kennedy Primary School rank locally?
- John F Kennedy Primary School ranked 42nd of 75 primary schools in Sunderland for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is John F Kennedy Primary School's absence rate?
- John F Kennedy Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are John F Kennedy Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John F Kennedy Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 10 July 2026.