St Thérèse of Lisieux Primary School is an average sized voluntary aided Roman Catholic primary school. It serves the largest private housing estate in Europe, Ingleby Barwick, and surrounding areas without Catholic education. Overall, the socio-economic backgrounds of pupils are better than average. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below average. There are fewer children from minority ethnic backgrounds and fewer with learning difficulties and disabilities than in most schools. Many, but not all, children start school with skills that are slightly above what would be expected nationally. The school has achieved a number of awards including Investors in People, Basic Skills Quality Mark, the Healthy Schools Gold Award, ArtsMark Gold, and ActiveMark.