St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery

St Sebastian’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery is a good school with a caring, orderly ethos. Pupils feel happy and trust staff, behave well, and take on leadership roles such as play leaders and buddies. Children in the early years settle quickly, and pupils, including those with SEND, respond well to high expectations and achieve well. Reading is a clear priority, with strong phonics and effective support for pupils who fall behind, and attendance is improving following the school’s resolute approach. The curriculum is coherent and well ordered in many subjects, but in some subjects the essential knowledge has not been identified precisely enough. This limits teachers’ ability to design learning and check understanding, so some pupils do not learn and remember the intended curriculum as well as they could. The governing body is committed and active but lacks robust strategic oversight of the quality of education, so it does not challenge and hold the school to account sufficiently well. The new leadership team has accurately identified priorities, staff feel supported, and safeguarding is effective.

Strengths

• Caring relationships help pupils feel happy and trusted
• Pupils behave well and are kind and considerate
• Pupils with SEND are quickly identified and well supported
• Reading is a priority with effective phonics and catch-up support
• Early years provides strong foundations for learning
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs and community activities
• Personal development is promoted well, including health, relationships and equality
• Attendance is improving due to the school’s resolute approach
• New leadership has quickly identified the right priorities
• Staff feel supported and proud to work at the school
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum precision is inconsistent in some subjects, leaving gaps in pupils’ knowledge
• Teachers in some subjects cannot check learning well enough because key knowledge is unclear
• Some pupils do not learn and remember the intended curriculum as well as they could
• The governing body lacks robust strategic oversight and does not hold the school to account sufficiently
• Governors need to focus on core duties to challenge and support improvement more effectively

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 Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery 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 Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 36.4% 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, 18.9% of pupils at St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery received £7,831 and spent £7,142 for each of its 224 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £254,000 (£1,138 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 Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery have?

St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery has 238 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery cover?

St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery?

St Sebastian's Catholic Primary School and Nursery is at Holly Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L7 0LH.