St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 November 2025

Pupils are proud to attend this warm and caring school, and they do so increasingly well. Pupils know that they are valued and appreciated as individuals. They recognise each other's uniqueness, while celebrating being together as one whole school. Pupils feel safe. They arrive happily in the morning and greet each other with cheerful smiles. They extend this friendly welcome readily to visitors with polite conversation. Pupils say that bullying is rare. They are confident that any issues are dealt with swiftly by staff. In the main, pupils behave well. They are attentive in lessons and play kindly and sensibly together at breaktimes. Older pupils enjoy supporting the youngest children in the school, acting as 'buddies' to model appropriate behaviours. Pupils are respectful and considerate towards each other and to adults. They move around the school calmly, holding doors open for other people. While pupils enjoy their learning, many do not achieve as well as they should. This includes children in the early years. Inconsistent teaching approaches prevent some pupils from securing knowledge of the curriculum. This leaves persistent gaps in their basic writing and mathematical knowledge that hinder their progress. Leaders have high aspirations for pupils' achievement and have prioritised the necessary action to take. This work is starting to make a positive difference to pupils' education. However, this is not consistently reflected in their learning or in nationally published outcomes. Leaders ensure that the school offers exciting and purposeful enrichment opportunities beyond the academic curriculum. For example, some pupils visit the local high school to take part in exciting learning opportunities. Other pupils have visited a university to inspire them in their education. Leaders make sure that this offer is open and accessible to all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that teachers use checks on learning effectively to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge, particularly in transcription and mathematics, to address misconceptions swiftly and to help pupils to achieve well.
• Leaders should ensure that the activities that teachers select to deliver the learning are consistently well matched to the school's curriculum and enable pupils to learn the important information that has been set out.
• Leaders should complete their recent revisions to the early years curriculum to ensure that this supports children's learning effectively and improves their readiness for the next stage.
• Leaders should ensure that, in the early years, staff consistently and routinely engage in high-quality interactions with children to help them to develop the language and vocabulary that will help them to know, understand and remember more.
• Leaders should deepen pupils' understanding of different forms of discrimination.

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