St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale

St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School is a welcoming and inclusive school where pupils feel happy and safe, behave well and achieve well in most subjects. Inspectors found strong provision across the curriculum, behaviour, personal development, leadership and early years, with effective safeguarding arrangements. The school has high expectations and supports pupils with SEND well, and recent improvements have raised standards in writing and phonics after weaker outcomes in 2023. The school's phonics teaching is particularly effective, helping pupils become confident and fluent readers, and early years staff support children through excellent adult interactions. Pupils benefit from trips, visitors and leadership roles that bring learning to life and prepare them for later life. This was the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the school remains a good school overall, although it is not given an overall effectiveness grade under the current inspection arrangements. There are a small number of areas for improvement. In some subjects, leaders have not clearly identified the core knowledge pupils must remember, so recall is not consistently secure. Assessment in a few subjects also does not precisely identify what pupils know, meaning teaching does not always build on prior learning or address gaps.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy, safe and respected, and behave well in lessons and at playtimes.
• The school supports pupils with SEND effectively so they can access the full curriculum and succeed.
• Leaders have high expectations and have improved writing and phonics standards since 2023.
• Phonics teaching is strong, helping pupils become confident and fluent readers.
• Early years provision is characterised by excellent adult interactions that develop communication and language.
• Pupils benefit from well-planned trips, visitors and leadership roles that enrich the curriculum.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of curriculum subjects, core knowledge is not explicitly identified, so pupils' recall is not consistently secure.
• Assessment in a few subjects does not clearly identify what pupils remember, so teaching does not always build on prior knowledge or address gaps.

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 Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.9% 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, 1.3% of pupils at St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale 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 Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale had 21.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.9% 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, 11.3% of pupils at St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale received £6,969 and spent £6,695 for each of its 309 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £83,000 (-£268 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 Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale last inspected by Ofsted?

St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale have?

St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale has 311 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale cover?

St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale?

St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Middleton, Rochdale is at Evesham Road, Alkrington, Middleton, Manchester, M24 1PY.