Holy Cross Catholic Primary School

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good school. Pupils are happy and take pride in their school, which fosters a welcoming environment and strong community spirit, celebrating diversity in various forms. Staff and leaders have high expectations when it comes to behavior and academic achievement, contributing to a positive atmosphere where students feel safe and engaged in their learning. The curriculum is ambitious, with effective strategies in place for core subjects like reading, ensuring that even those struggling are supported and catch up quickly. However, there are areas that need improvement, particularly in subjects where the curriculum has been recently changed. Some pupils are currently struggling to retain essential knowledge and make connections within their learning. Leaders are aware of these challenges and are working to develop more effective strategies to enhance memory retention and deeper understanding across the curriculum. This was the first ungraded inspection since the school's last full inspection in February 2018, and the findings reflect continuity and a commitment to improvement.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud and happy to attend school.
• The school celebrates diversity effectively.
• Leadership demonstrates high expectations for behavior and achievement.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND ensures they follow the same curriculum.
• An effective phonics program helps pupils become fluent readers.
• A wide range of cultural, sporting, and artistic activities enrich students' experience.
• Teachers use effective strategies to keep pupils engaged and on task.
• Governance is strong, with skilled governors supporting school development.

Areas for Improvement

• Some recently introduced curriculums do not effectively help pupils remember essential knowledge.
• Pupils struggle to integrate learned information into larger concepts in some subjects.

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 Holy Cross Catholic Primary School attended 92.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.3% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross Catholic Primary School had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.9% 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, 25.5% of pupils at Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross Catholic Primary School received £8,193 and spent £8,183 for each of its 186 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £128,000 (£688 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 Holy Cross Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was Holy Cross Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does Holy Cross Catholic Primary School have?

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School has 192 pupils on roll.

What age range does Holy Cross Catholic Primary School cover?

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Holy Cross Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Holy Cross Catholic Primary School?

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is at Fontenoy Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L3 2DU.