St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School

St Philip’s Church of England Controlled Primary School is a caring, inclusive school where pupils feel safe, valued and happy. Safeguarding standards are met. Inspectors found the school at the expected standard in most areas, including attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Leaders have restructured and acted decisively to improve curriculum, teaching, attendance and behaviour, and pupils are benefiting from these changes. The school is a voluntary controlled Church of England primary in the Diocese of Liverpool. The main area of concern is achievement. Published data show that Year 6 outcomes have been below national averages for some time, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics, and disadvantaged pupils have significant gaps compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Current pupils are beginning to learn a more focused curriculum, but gaps in key knowledge remain, and it is too soon to see the impact on published outcomes. Inspectors also found that staff do not always use checks on learning, including within lessons, to identify gaps or misconceptions, so teaching is sometimes not adjusted well enough. Persistent absence, while improving, remains above national levels. The report’s next steps are to close gaps in English and mathematics knowledge swiftly, strengthen the use of assessment to build more securely on pupils’ understanding across the curriculum, and continue reducing absence, especially persistent absence. The school has notable strengths in pastoral care, inclusion, personal development and the support provided for pupils’ emotional and social wellbeing, which provide a strong foundation for further improvement.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met.
• Pupils feel safe, valued and happy, and enjoy attending school.
• Pupils are typically polite, well-mannered and behave well.
• Bullying is rare and is dealt with swiftly and effectively.
• Attendance is improving and suspensions have reduced.
• Leaders have designed curriculums that help pupils build knowledge logically over time.
• Phonics is taught well, giving pupils a positive start to learning letter sounds.
• Leaders have taken decisive action to improve curriculum and teaching.
• Governors provide appropriate support and challenge and meet statutory duties.
• Staff feel valued and supported and are positive about professional learning.
• Pupils with SEND are identified early and supported to engage fully in school life.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively to support disadvantaged pupils.
• Support for pupils’ social and emotional development is highly effective.
• Personal development is broad, including enrichment, clubs, leadership roles and safety education.
• Early years children settle quickly and are well supported to develop confidence and independence.
• Most parents and carers are positive about communication and the support their children receive.

Areas for Improvement

• Published outcomes by the end of Year 6 are below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils have large gaps compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.
• Pupils have gaps in the most important key knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Some subject knowledge is less secure because of previous inconsistencies in teaching and learning.
• Staff do not always use checks on learning, including within lessons, to spot gaps or misconceptions, so teaching is sometimes not adjusted well enough.
• Some pupils continue to miss valuable learning because they do not attend school regularly.
• Persistent absence remains above national levels, though it is improving.
• Support for children’s engagement in early years activities is not always well matched to their current learning needs.

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 Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.3% 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, 2.5% of pupils at St Philip's Church of England Controlled 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 Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 44.4% 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, 17.8% of pupils at St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School received £7,317 and spent £7,219 for each of its 197 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £755,000 (£3,834 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).

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What is St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School have?

St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School has 197 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School cover?

St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 41% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School?

St Philip's Church of England Controlled Primary School is at Church Road, Litherland, Liverpool, Merseyside, L21 8NZ.