St Paul's Catholic Primary School

St Paul's Catholic Primary School is a small, welcoming Roman Catholic primary in Prenton. Safeguarding is met and the school has a strong caring culture: pupils feel safe and happy, behaviour is calm, and inclusion is central. The nurture hub, speech and language support, and work with families help pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, who make good progress from their starting points and achieve well by the end of key stage 2. Personal development is a clear strength, with a Catholic ethos, daily worship, enrichment and leadership roles helping pupils broaden their horizons. However, pupils' achievement is uneven and too many do not secure essential basic knowledge. Early reading and phonics are not consistently effective, and writing is a persistent weakness: by Year 6 too many pupils are not proficient writers, and teachers do not routinely correct errors in punctuation, spelling, handwriting or mathematics. Teaching and curriculum vary, particularly in mixed-age classes, where work is sometimes not matched to pupils' stages so gaps accumulate. Early years provision has strengths, especially for two-year-olds, but adult interactions and activities do not always prepare children well enough for Year 1. Attendance is below national average and persistent absence is high, especially for pupils with SEND, and leaders' strategies have not yet had enough impact. Leaders are managing significant change and are starting to focus on the right priorities, but they have not identified all weaknesses, and governors do not yet challenge pupil progress robustly enough. The school has a solid foundation in care, inclusion and personal development, but it needs sharper action on curriculum, teaching, writing, reading and attendance.

Strengths

• Strong Catholic ethos and inclusive, welcoming community where pupils feel safe and happy.
• Inclusion is central to leaders' decision-making, with SEND needs identified well from the early years.
• Effective use of education, health and care plans to set and review individual targets.
• Strong support for pupils known to social care and families facing financial hardship.
• The nurture hub provides tailored support for communication, social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Speech and language programmes are delivered with health professionals, and pupils generally make progress with communication.
• Pupil premium funding helps disadvantaged pupils make better progress in reading and mathematics.
• Pupils with SEND make good progress from their individual starting points.
• Personal development is well designed, covering health, safety, responsibility, respect and democracy.
• Age-appropriate relationships, sex and health education, with visitors making local issues relevant.
• Rich enrichment, clubs, trips and performances are free, and leaders track participation so no pupil misses out.
• Pupils hold leadership roles in charity, peer support and faith, developing confidence and responsibility.
• Pupils are polite, kind and welcoming; the school is calm and orderly, and bullying is rare.
• The provision for two-year-olds is well led, with well-trained adults and strong progress.
• Leaders engage well with parents and the community, and staff feel well supported in their wellbeing and workload.
• At the end of key stage 2, reading and mathematics outcomes are broadly in line with national averages.

Areas for Improvement

• Too few pupils secure the basic knowledge they need in early reading, and by the end of Year 1 too few read well.
• Writing is a persistent area of weakness, and too many pupils leave Year 6 without becoming proficient writers.
• Teachers do not consistently address errors in punctuation, spelling, handwriting or mathematics, so mistakes persist.
• Teaching and curriculum vary, and learning tasks do not always reflect the intended curriculum or build on prior knowledge.
• In mixed-age classes, pupils sometimes complete the same work regardless of age or stage, so knowledge does not build progressively.
• Phonics teaching is not consistently accurate and effective, and outcomes do not reflect recent training.
• Early years staff interactions are not always purposeful enough to extend children's thinking and communication.
• Early years activities and spaces do not always help children explore and learn at the right level, leaving them less prepared for Year 1.
• Children do not always have opportunities to practise reading during day-to-day activities.
• Attendance is below the national average and persistent absence is high, particularly for pupils with SEND.
• Leaders' attendance strategies have not yet had the intended measurable impact.
• Leaders have not identified the full extent of weaknesses in curriculum and teaching.
• Governors do not question or challenge leaders closely enough about pupils' progress and achievement.
• The pupil premium plan lacks specific actions to address long-standing difficulties in writing.

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 Paul's Catholic Primary School attended 92.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 30.0% 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, 0.9% of pupils at St Paul'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 Paul's Catholic Primary School had 13.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 31.3% of pupils at St Paul's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.1% 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 Paul's Catholic Primary School received £11,124 and spent £10,315 for each of its 92 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £148,000 (£1,614 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 Prenton · Wirral local authority: places and applications

What is St Paul's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Paul's Catholic Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

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

St Paul's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

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

St Paul's Catholic Primary School has 99 pupils on roll.

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

St Paul's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Paul's Catholic Primary School?

St Paul's Catholic Primary School is at FARMFIELD DRIVE, BEECHWOOD, PRENTON, MERSEYSIDE, CH43 7TE.