St Marie's Catholic Primary School

St Marie’s Catholic Primary is a welcoming, nurturing school where pupils feel known and cared for, and where behaviour and personal development are strong. Pupils enjoy school, behave well and benefit from a broad range of wider opportunities. Leadership and governance have changed significantly since the previous inspection, and leaders have worked with commitment to revise the curriculum, support staff and improve attendance. Safeguarding is effective. The main concern is the quality of education. The revised curriculum is broad and ambitious and is sequenced in most subjects, but it is not yet consistently delivered or securely embedded across the school. Assessment is not applied consistently enough to identify and close gaps, including gaps left by the previous curriculum. Published reading and mathematics results were significantly below national averages in 2023 and 2024, and some pupils are not yet achieving as well as they should or fully prepared for the next stage. Early reading and phonics are a clear strength, with pupils getting off to a strong start and most reading confidently by the end of key stage 1. However, the revised reading curriculum beyond phonics is at a very early stage, and pupils do not yet build strong higher-order comprehension skills or have sufficient long-standing access to a wide range of texts. Under the current inspection framework, no overall effectiveness grade was awarded.

Strengths

• Welcoming, nurturing atmosphere where pupils feel safe and known
• Pupils behave well and show positive attitudes to learning
• Calm school environment with strong staff-pupil relationships
• Broad and ambitious revised curriculum, with disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND considered
• Early identification of SEND and effective adaptation so most pupils with SEND progress well
• Strong early reading and phonics provision; most pupils read confidently by the end of key stage 1
• Wide extra-curricular offer and strong personal development, including citizenship, tolerance and careers awareness
• Leadership and governance provide strong support and challenge; staff feel well supported
• Attendance is improving through close tracking and support
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Revised curriculum is not consistently implemented or securely embedded across all subjects
• Assessment systems are not consistently understood or applied, so learning gaps are not identified and addressed urgently
• Key stage 2 reading curriculum is in its very early stages and higher-order comprehension is not yet well developed
• Access to a wide range of texts for reading for pleasure has been limited until recently
• Too many pupils do not achieve the school’s high expectations, partly due to legacy gaps and inconsistent curriculum delivery
• Some pupils are not fully prepared for the next stage of education
• Published reading and mathematics results were significantly below national averages in 2023 and 2024

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 Marie's Catholic Primary School attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 28.4% 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 Marie's 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 Marie's Catholic Primary School had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.2% 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, 18.9% of pupils at St Marie's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.0% 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 Marie's Catholic Primary School received £9,449 and spent £8,901 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £233,000 (£1,110 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 Marie's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Marie's Catholic Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was St Marie's Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Marie's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does St Marie's Catholic Primary School have?

St Marie's Catholic Primary School has 222 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Marie's Catholic Primary School cover?

St Marie's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Marie's Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Marie's Catholic Primary School?

St Marie's Catholic Primary School is at Bigdale Drive, Northwood, Kirkby, Liverpool, Merseyside, L33 6XL.