Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School is a warm and welcoming school where pupils enjoy learning, behave well, feel safe and achieve well in most subjects. Inspectors found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all to be good. Pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum, strong reading outcomes, effective support for pupils with SEND, a wide range of clubs and ambassador roles, and well-considered personal development. Safeguarding is effective, and governors provide effective challenge and support. The main area of concern is the early years provision, which requires improvement. Recent staffing changes have caused instability, and the curriculum is not consistently delivered as intended. Children do not always settle into routines and expectations, have too few opportunities to practise new phonics sounds, and are not consistently engaged in purposeful learning. As a result, they are not as well prepared for the next stages of their education as they should be. In a minority of subjects across the school, work is not matched closely enough to the intended curriculum, so pupils do not develop important concepts and subject-specific vocabulary in sufficient depth. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. It was previously exempt from routine inspection because it had been judged outstanding, and it has not been inspected under section 5 since 2014. Since September 2024, schools have not received an overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy learning in a warm and welcoming school.
• Pupils behave well and feel safe, with trusted staff to help them.
• The school has developed an ambitious curriculum with clearly identified knowledge and vocabulary.
• Pupils achieve extremely well in reading by the time they leave.
• Phonics is well sequenced and staff quickly support pupils who fall behind.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported to learn alongside their peers.
• Pupils have high attendance and positive attitudes to learning.
• Personal development is well considered, including health, relationships, safety and careers.
• Pupils take on ambassador roles and contribute to school life.
• Governors have the right skills to challenge and support the school.
• Staff feel listened to and are mindful of workload.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years provision requires improvement.
• Recent staffing changes in the early years have caused instability.
• Early years routines and expectations for participation are not fully established.
• Children in the early years do not get enough opportunities to practise new phonics sounds.
• Early years learning activities do not consistently ensure children practise and apply new learning.
• Children in the early years are not well enough prepared for the next stages of education.
• In a minority of subjects, teachers do not design activities with sufficient depth to meet the ambitious curriculum aims.
• In a minority of subjects, pupils do not develop subject-specific vocabulary and important concepts securely enough.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.5% of pupils at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School had 22.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 13.4% of pupils at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School received £7,756 and spent £7,829 for each of its 212 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £298,000 (£1,407 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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What is Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School have?

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School has 217 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School cover?

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 83% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School?

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School is at Trittiford Road, Yardley Wood, Birmingham, West Midlands, B13 0EU.