St Catherine's Roman Catholic School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 January 2026

Pupils at St Catherine's Roman Catholic School benefit from a warm, caring environment where the community values and spirit shine through. Children make a confident start in Reception, responding well to routines and settling quickly. Pupils enjoy their learning throughout the school. However, low attendance and persistent absence mean that some pupils miss valuable opportunities to learn. Nurturing relationships between staff and pupils help to ensure that bullying is rare and never tolerated. Pupils feel safe and trust adults to support them. Older pupils interact positively with younger pupils during social times and throughout the school day. Pupils work and play in a calm, respectful environment. This helps build a sense of belonging and identity. Pupils feel proud of their school and show high levels of self-discipline and maturity. The school welcomes everyone. Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities participate fully in school life. However, at times, these pupils do not receive well-adapted tasks that meet their needs, which slows their progress. Historically, published outcomes show that pupils in key stage 2 have not been well prepared for the next stages of their education. Furthermore, current standards remain low. Leaders have begun to address this, and some improvements are evident. Recent changes have not been in place for long enough to have secured better achievement. Pupils live out fundamental British values by contributing actively to their community. They develop mutual respect and tolerance. Pupils understand the impact of small acts of kindness and support national charities and local initiatives such as the food bank. Sport plays a central role in school life, and pupils relish representing the school in activities such as cross country, rugby and netball.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that staff know how to adapt learning and provide targeted support more consistently so that pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged are better supported to achieve well. • Leaders should ensure that the teaching of writing develops pupils' foundational spelling knowledge and improves the quality of their handwriting and written work across the curriculum. • Leaders should closely analyse and act on the performance outcomes of vulnerable groups of pupils so that these pupils achieve well. • Leaders should ensure that the work they have begun to improve attendance continues and consistently improves pupils' attendance and reduces rates of persistent absence. • Leaders at all levels need to sharpen their strategic oversight so that work is systematic and leads to rapid improvement.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)