St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School

St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a well-led, caring church school with a strong community identity. Pupils behave well, feel safe and are supported by positive relationships and high levels of care. Leadership, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision are all strong, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Reading is a particular strength, with a well-established phonics programme and good support for pupils who need extra help. The school also identifies pupils with SEND early and provides appropriate support, including speech and language therapy. Attendance has improved and governors are well informed. The main area for development is the quality of education, particularly in mathematics and writing. Standards in these subjects have dropped, and teaching and assessment in mathematics vary in effectiveness, which slows pupils' progress. Leaders are taking action and have introduced new approaches to writing and handwriting, but these are at an early stage and pupils' writing remains variable. The school has a clear understanding of what needs to improve and is working with staff to bring about change while considering workload. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic's impact into account. The school is a Church of England voluntary controlled primary with 231 pupils. Under the current inspection framework, no overall effectiveness grade was given.

Strengths

• Strong sense of community and caring, respectful culture
• Pupils behave well and relationships across the school are excellent
• Leadership is well informed and focused on improvement
• Reading is taught well, including a consistent phonics programme
• Early years provision supports children's listening and early language well
• The wider curriculum is logically sequenced with opportunities to revisit learning
• Pupils with SEND are identified early and supported effectively
• Personal development is strong, including responsibility and wider experiences
• Attendance has improved and most pupils are rarely absent
• Governors are well informed and parents are supportive
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement
• Teaching and assessment in mathematics vary in effectiveness, slowing pupils' progress
• Standards in mathematics have dropped and need to rise
• Pupils' writing standards remain variable
• New approaches to writing and handwriting are at an early stage and not yet consistently implemented

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 St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.0% 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, 1.7% of pupils at St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled 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 St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.8% 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, 17.5% of pupils at St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.2% 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 St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School received £7,397 and spent £7,432 for each of its 223 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £160,000 (£716 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

All schools in West Bromwich · Sandwell local authority: places and applications

What is St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School have?

St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School has 229 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School cover?

St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 42% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

St Mary Magdalene CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School is at Stanway Road, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B71 1RP.