St Mary's Catholic Primary School
High Road, Kells, Whitehaven, CA28 9PGOpen in maps (opens in a new tab)
St Mary's Catholic Primary School is a primary school in Whitehaven for ages 3 to 11. It is one of the 178 schools in Cumberland. It ranks 1st of 11 primary schools in Whitehaven. Its latest Ofsted inspection, in May 2025, graded each key judgement and gave no overall Ofsted rating.
Ofsted inspection
Inspected 7 May 2025, report published 9 June 2025
This inspection graded each key judgement and gave no overall effectiveness grade.
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years provision
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Met
What Ofsted said
From the inspection on 7 May 2025
Pupils love attending this school. They beam with happiness as they arrive. Many pupils run to their classrooms, excited to start the day. The school instils in pupils that everyone is unique and equal. Its values are central to the life of the school and are lived out in practice by pupils. Pupils demonstrate consistently high levels of respect towards others. Their behaviour is excellent. The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement. It ensures that they learn a rich curriculum. Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects. Children in the early years get off to a flying start, making rapid gains in their learning. The school exposes pupils to an impressive range of experiences that they may not otherwise encounter. Pupils participate in many trips to contrasting geographical locations. They visit different places of worship and numerous cities, including Glasgow, Newcastle and London. They enjoy annual residential trips from Year 2 onwards. This develops pupils' confidence and broadens their knowledge. Pupils contribute to designing the school's extensive extra-curricular offer. This includes the addition of activities that pupils are interested in but cannot access outside school. Clubs include sports, art, music, drama and dance. Take up of these is consistently high.
What the school should improve
- In a small number of subjects, the key knowledge that pupils should learn at each stage is not clearly defined. This means that the work pupils complete in these subjects does not consistently support them in deepening their understanding over time. The school should further refine these subjects to ensure that pupils are enabled to develop the depth of knowledge they need for the next stage in their education.
Exam results
SATs results (key stage 2), 2024/25
25 pupils took the tests
Pupil numbers and mix
195 pupils on roll, with places for 180
Schools near St Mary's Catholic Primary School
| School | Distance | Ofsted | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kells Infant School | 0.1 miles | Ofsted judgements: Good to outstanding | Not published |
| Monkwray Junior School | 0.5 miles | Ofsted: Good | 41% met the expected standard |
| St Gregory and St Patrick's Catholic Infant School | 0.8 miles | Ofsted: Good | Not published |
| St Begh's Catholic Junior School | 0.9 miles | Ofsted: Good | 47% met the expected standard |
| Valley Primary School and Nursery | 1 mile | Ofsted: Good | 36% met the expected standard |
School details
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Sector
- Local authority maintained
- Age range
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Nursery classes
- Yes
- Headteacher
- Mrs Carley Miller
- Phone
- 0194666356
- Address
- High Road, Kells, Whitehaven, CA28 9PG
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- URN
- 112353
School details from Get Information about Schools, 17 September 2026. Ofsted outcomes published to 31 August 2026. Exam results for 2024/25 from the Department for Education. Pupil mix from the school census, 2025/26.