St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School

St Gabriel’s Catholic Primary School is a happy, caring and vibrant school where pupils are welcomed and respected and respond well to high expectations. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve very well. Children in the early years develop routines and positive attitudes to learning, and pupils’ personal development is a particular strength: they benefit from an exceptional range of visits and experiences, take on pupil leadership roles, support charities and discuss issues such as consent and healthy relationships with maturity. The school has an ambitious curriculum that is carefully matched to pupils’ needs and well sequenced, including for mixed-age classes. Staff have strong subject knowledge, reading and phonics are taught effectively, and pupils with SEND are identified and supported well. Behaviour is orderly and positive, vulnerable pupils and families are supported effectively, and relationships with parents are very positive. Staff are proud to work at the school and the governing body has had a strong impact on development. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is that, in some subjects, a minority of pupils are given activities that are not well matched to their learning needs. As a result, they can become too dependent on adult support and waste learning time waiting for help. The school should ensure a more consistent match between tasks and learning needs so that all pupils reach their full academic potential. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and, under the current framework, no overall effectiveness grade was given.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, caring and respectful, and they rise to the school’s high expectations.
• Pupils, including those with SEND, achieve very well.
• Early years children have fun while developing routines and positive attitudes to learning.
• The curriculum is ambitious, carefully matched to pupils’ needs and well sequenced, including for mixed-age classes.
• Staff have strong subject knowledge and give clear explanations of new learning.
• Assessment is used well to identify strengths and misconceptions and adapt future teaching.
• Reading is promoted strongly, and the phonics programme is taught very effectively.
• Pupils with SEND are identified carefully and supported to participate fully in school life.
• The behaviour policy is applied effectively, and social times are orderly and pleasant.
• The school works very well with vulnerable pupils and families to improve attendance and behaviour.
• Pupils benefit from an exceptional range of experiences that enhance personal development.
• Pupils take on leadership roles and contribute to their school and wider community.
• Relationships with parents and carers are very positive.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value consideration of their workload and well-being.
• The highly skilled and experienced governing body has had a very strong impact on school development.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, activities are not well matched to the learning needs of a minority of pupils, leading to overdependence on adults and wasted learning time.

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 Gabriel's Catholic Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.8% 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, 0.8% of pupils at St Gabriel'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 Gabriel's Catholic Primary School had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.8% 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, 14.4% of pupils at St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.5% 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 Gabriel's Catholic Primary School received £8,058 and spent £8,052 for each of its 362 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £213,000 (£589 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 Leigh · Wigan local authority: places and applications

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

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

St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

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

St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School has 375 pupils on roll.

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

St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School?

St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School is at Queensway, Higher Folds, Leigh, Lancashire, WN7 2XG.