St Marys Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 7 July 2026

Pupils thrive in this caring school. The culture is shaped clearly by the school’s values of pray, learn, love and enjoy. Leaders, governors, staff and pupils live out these values in daily routines and interactions, creating a warm, purposeful and respectful environment. Behaviour across the school is calm and positive. Pupils strive to be ready, respectful and safe, demonstrating polite and considerate conduct throughout the day. They move around the school respectfully, showing courtesy to staff and peers. In lessons, pupils mostly show positive attitudes to learning. When activities engage them well, they participate enthusiastically and sustain concentration with minimal need for reminders. Children make an excellent start in early years, acquiring strong skills in reading, mathematics, writing and communication. As they move through the school, pupils generally achieve well across the curriculum. They build secure knowledge in a wide range of subjects and apply it confidently in new contexts. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make very effective progress from their starting points as a result of high-quality support. Pupils produce work of good quality and talk with assurance about what they know and can do. Pupils are well prepared for their next steps, despite a dip in published test scores in mathematics and English grammar, punctuation and spelling at key stage 2 last year. Pupils attend well. Leaders have ensured improvements to the attendance of disadvantaged pupils, reducing persistent absence by helping to overcome barriers. Personal development and wellbeing are positive, equipping pupils with skills, knowledge and confidence to help prepare them for the future. An enriching offer of extracurricular clubs and trips widens pupils’ experience of the world. Opportunities such as the Year 6 residential activity trip help pupils to develop resilience, confidence and independence. Pupils learn to swim adeptly in the school pool. Leaders provide high-quality pastoral care, particularly benefitting pupils with SEND.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that lesson activities are sharply designed to help pupils to achieve highly with spelling, handwriting and mathematics.
• Leaders should ensure that all teachers uphold high expectations for learning behaviour, helping pupils to show positive attitudes to learning at all times.
• Leaders should continue their work to raise the attendance of disadvantaged pupils.

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