St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School

St Werburgh’s Catholic Primary School has demonstrated a strong performance, achieving a 'Good' rating across all categories during its recent inspection. The school is praised for its supportive and nurturing environment, where pupils feel safe and valued. Staff are committed to fostering positive relationships and high expectations, which contribute to a happy and motivated student body. While current pupils are learning successfully, the school is still overcoming historical weaknesses in its curriculum that have affected published achievement outcomes at key stage 2. Although the curriculum is ambitious and well-structured in many areas, there are some subjects where the order of learning is not as effective, hindering some students’ confidence as they encounter new material. Moreover, the assessment strategies in place occasionally fall short of providing adequate information on pupils’ learning, which impacts the educators' ability to effectively plan next steps. Overall, the school is moving in the right direction, benefiting from strong leadership and a cohesive staff team dedicated to improving educational quality.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and secure in school.
• The school fosters a warm and welcoming environment.
• Strong relationships between staff, pupils, and families.
• High expectations lead to motivated and determined learners.
• Curriculum is ambitious, particularly in early years.
• Effective support provided for pupils with SEND.
• Strong emphasis on reading and phonics.
• Pupils have a good understanding of British values.
• The school cares about staff well-being and workload.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum weaknesses remain from previous years.
• Some subjects have poorly ordered learning content.
• Assessment systems do not consistently provide useful learning information.

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 Werburgh's Catholic Primary School attended 91.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 29.4% 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, 5.1% of pupils at St Werburgh'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 Werburgh's Catholic Primary School had 14.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.3% 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, 35.7% of pupils at St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Werburgh's Catholic Primary School received £9,429 and spent £9,303 for each of its 191 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £187,000 (£979 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 Birkenhead · Wirral local authority: places and applications

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2023.

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

St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in November 2023.

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

St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School has 210 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 44% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School?

St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School is at Park Grove, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH41 2TD.