St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton

St Richard's is a smaller-than-average Roman Catholic primary school in Atherton with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and SEN support, serving an area of above-average deprivation. Inspectors found a warm, caring school where pupils feel safe, enjoy learning and benefit from a coherent personal development programme and a wide range of enrichment. Attendance is a notable strength, with figures well above national averages and persistent absence reduced through effective work with families. Safeguarding standards are met, and staff are proud to work at the school. However, several core areas need attention. Teaching is inconsistent across year groups and subjects, and some staff do not consistently check learning or adapt work well enough, especially for pupils with SEND, including those in the specially resourced provision. Outcomes in 2025 were below previous years in some measures, and some pupils leave with gaps in reading, spelling, grammar and mathematics. Early years provision does not reliably build secure phonics knowledge or extend children's thinking, and behaviour expectations are not applied consistently. Leaders and governors do not yet evaluate the impact of their work with enough rigour, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Additional funding and support are not precisely matched to individual needs, and governors cannot fully explain how well these pupils are doing. The report recognises that leaders have identified the right priorities and are taking focused action, but those actions need to have greater impact, particularly for the most vulnerable pupils.

Strengths

• Strong personal development and wellbeing provision, with pupils learning respect, British values and leadership roles.
• Pupils feel safe, bullying is rare, and incidents are dealt with swiftly.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment activities, clubs, trips and sports partnerships.
• Attendance is well above national averages, with persistent absence reduced through effective family and local authority work.
• Staff know pupils well and provide warm, caring relationships and tailored pastoral support.
• Leaders have identified the right improvement priorities and are mindful of staff workload and wellbeing.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and concerns actively managed.
• Some pupils acquire detailed knowledge in subjects such as science when teaching is effective.
• Disadvantaged pupils are supported to take part in school life and enrichment opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils are not consistently prepared for the next stage of education.
• Some early readers have gaps in phonics knowledge, and some children leave early years less ready for Year 1.
• National outcomes at the end of Year 6 were lower in 2025 than in previous years.
• Some pupils make spelling and grammar errors across subjects.
• Disadvantaged pupils have gaps in spelling, grammar and mathematics that are not closing quickly enough.
• Some pupils with SEND, particularly in the specially resourced provision, do not make the progress they could.
• Teaching quality is inconsistent across year groups and subjects.
• Teachers do not consistently check learning or adapt activities for SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Staff do not consistently apply the behaviour policy, and some pupils lose focus.
• Staff do not make needed adaptations for some pupils with SEND to manage feelings and behaviour.
• Early years staff sometimes pronounce phonics sounds incorrectly and do not consistently extend children's thinking.
• Support is not closely matched to the needs of the most vulnerable pupils, including those with EHC plans.
• Leaders do not evaluate the impact of additional funding on individual disadvantaged pupils with enough precision.
• Governors lack precise understanding of how well disadvantaged pupils are supported and do not consistently hold leaders to account.
• Leaders' quality assurance and training do not focus sharply enough on impact for pupils.
• Leaders' actions to improve teaching consistency are at an early stage.

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 Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.0% 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, 3.3% of pupils at St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton had 26.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.3% 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, 19.6% of pupils at St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton received £7,524 and spent £7,072 for each of its 184 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £375,000 (£2,040 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 Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton's Ofsted rating?

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

When was St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton last inspected by Ofsted?

St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton have?

St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton has 184 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton cover?

St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton?

St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton is at Flapper Fold Lane, Atherton, Manchester, M46 0HA.