St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School

St Mary’s The Mount Catholic Primary School is a welcoming, compassionate school where pupils are happy, feel safe and achieve well. Inspectors found strong provision across the main areas of education, behaviour, personal development and leadership, with the early years standing out as exceptionally effective. Pupils benefit from a carefully constructed curriculum, a strong focus on vocabulary, and highly effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Reading is a particular strength, and children in Nursery and Reception get off to a flying start in engaging, language-rich environments. The school’s Catholic ethos and strong sense of community are evident, and relationships between staff and pupils are positive. Pupils behave well, take on meaningful responsibilities and develop a secure understanding of safety, democracy and equality. Staff feel supported and there is a shared sense of purpose among leaders, governors, staff and pupils. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was previously exempt from routine inspection after being judged outstanding. There are two main areas for improvement. In some lessons, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding effectively enough in the moment, so learning can move on before concepts are secure. The personal development programme is extensive but not structured clearly enough, leading to inconsistency in elements such as participation in clubs. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• A strong Catholic ethos and compassionate community where pupils feel safe and valued
• Pupils are happy, rarely absent or late, and behave well
• A carefully sequenced curriculum that builds knowledge over time
• A strong emphasis on vocabulary helps pupils speak confidently about their learning
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is a real strength
• Pupils achieve well in mathematics and English and connect learning across subjects
• Highly effective phonics teaching helps pupils learn to read quickly
• Early years provision is outstanding, with expert support for children’s language development
• Extensive personal development opportunities, including meaningful pupil roles
• Staff feel proud and supported, with positive relationships across the school community

Areas for Improvement

• In some lessons, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding effectively enough before moving on
• The personal development programme is not set out clearly enough, leading to inconsistency in areas such as clubs

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's The Mount Catholic Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.3% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Mary's The Mount 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 St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 14.0% of pupils at St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.6% 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's The Mount Catholic Primary School received £7,303 and spent £7,340 for each of its 227 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £9,000 (£40 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 St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School have?

St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School has 235 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School cover?

St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 73% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School?

St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School is at Jesson Road, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 3AY.