St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School

St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary is a larger-than-average Catholic primary school in an area of well-above-average deprivation. This full inspection found a caring, welcoming school where safeguarding is effective and pupils feel safe, valued and well supported. Personal development, wellbeing and inclusion are relative strengths: pupils benefit from a broad enrichment offer, positive relationships, effective pastoral care and growing support for pupils with additional needs. However, the quality of education is not consistently secure. Ofsted found that achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, attendance and leadership require attention. Too many pupils do not build and retain knowledge across subjects, especially in writing and mathematics; teaching and assessment vary between classes; and recent curriculum changes are not yet embedded. Attendance remains below national averages, with high persistent absence, and early years practice does not always extend children's learning. Leadership and governance are committed and have begun stabilising the school after significant staffing and leadership turbulence. Governors know the school and provide support and challenge, and staff wellbeing is considered. But improvement strategies have not yet had enough impact on classroom practice or pupil outcomes. The school has clear next steps around curriculum consistency, assessment, writing, attendance, early years interactions and sharper monitoring.

Strengths

• Effective safeguarding culture: standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Warm, caring and inclusive school community with positive relationships.
• Pupils behave well, show respect and trust staff to resolve concerns.
• Strong personal development programme that supports pupils' wellbeing and resilience.
• Good pastoral support, including calming routines and reflection time.
• Pupils learn about healthy relationships, online safety and respect for different cultures.
• Wide range of clubs, trips, charity events and leadership roles enrich pupils' experiences.
• Disadvantaged pupils are included in enrichment and leadership opportunities.
• Early identification of SEND and additional needs, especially speech, language and SEMH.
• Structured routines and visual prompts help many pupils access learning.
• Revised curriculum is ambitious and logically organised.
• Appropriate training in mathematics and reading is valued by staff.
• Early years has systematic phonics and a sequenced curriculum from Nursery to Reception.
• Leaders and governors are committed, know the school well and provide support and challenge.
• Staff workload and wellbeing are considered; most staff are proud to work at the school.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not develop secure, cumulative knowledge across curriculum subjects.
• Many pupils struggle to recall prior learning without prompts or support.
• Gaps remain in foundational writing and mathematics knowledge.
• Teachers do not consistently identify or correct errors and misconceptions.
• Handwriting and spelling are not addressed systematically.
• Teaching and curriculum implementation are inconsistent across the school.
• Activities are sometimes not closely matched to intended learning.
• Assessment is not used consistently to identify and address gaps.
• Expectations for writing are not consistently high enough.
• Staffing instability has slowed improvement and limited consistency.
• Attendance is below national averages and persistent absence is high.
• Some pupils arrive late, missing key instruction and disrupting routines.
• Leaders' attendance strategies are not yet having sustained impact.
• Early years adult interactions do not consistently deepen learning or extend thinking.
• Early years provision does not consistently support early writing and all areas of learning.
• Leaders have not yet secured consistent improvement in quality of education.
• Professional development is not sufficiently targeted or impactful.
• Recent leadership and staffing turbulence has slowed embedding of new systems.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes remain below national in combined and mathematics measures.
• Governors' actions have not yet sufficiently improved academic achievement.

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 Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.2% 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, 1.5% of pupils at St Michael and All Angels 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 Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School had 20.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.4% 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, 18.1% of pupils at St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.1% 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 Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School received £6,910 and spent £7,231 for each of its 411 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £237,000 (-£578 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 Liverpool · Knowsley local authority: places and applications

What is St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School have?

St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School has 419 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School cover?

St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School?

St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School is at Sidney Powell Avenue, Westvale, Kirkby, Liverpool, Merseyside, L32 0TP.