St Finian's Catholic Primary School

Type Primary / Voluntary aided school
Age Range 4-11
Religion Roman Catholic
Address The Ridge
Cold Ash
Thatcham
Berkshire
RG18 9HU
Phone 01635865925
Reference Number 110037

St Finian's Catholic Primary School is maintaining a good standard of education, as evidenced by positive relationships between pupils and staff, which foster a caring atmosphere conducive to learning. The school has successfully nurtured pupils' enthusiasm for various subjects, particularly in physical education, while also establishing a robust focus on literacy with a strong emphasis on reading and comprehension skills. Despite the overall positive environment, some pupils, particularly those in key stage 1, have fallen behind in basic skills such as phonics and reading, prompting school leaders to acknowledge the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on learning progress and to initiate catch-up strategies.

General Makeup

Number of pupils 206
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 41.75%
Girls: 58.25%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 3.4%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 9.2%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 29.3
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 29
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 29.5

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 9 21 30
2 11 17 28
3 15 17 32
4 15 12 27
5 12 16 28
6 13 18 31

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 75.7%
White, Other 10.2%
White & Asian 2.4%
White & Black (African) 1.9%
African 1.9%
Mixed, Other 1.9%
Unclassified 1%
Irish 1%
Asian, Other 1%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.5%
Chinese 0.5%
Indian 0.5%
Caribbean 0.5%

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date 30 Nov 2021
Date Report
30 Nov 2021 School inspection
22 Nov 2016 Short inspection
16 Nov 2011 Full inspection:
25 Feb 2009 Full inspection:
04 Mar 2008 Curriculum and development visit
28 Nov 2005 Full inspection:
26 Jun 2000 Full inspection

Strengths

  • Positive relationships between pupils and staff.
  • High aspirations for pupil achievement.
  • Effective support for pupils with special educational needs.
  • Engaging and interesting teaching methods.
  • Strong emphasis on reading comprehension.
  • Children in Reception develop effective learning habits.

Areas for Improvement

  • Some pupils have fallen behind in phonics and reading.
  • Opportunities for targeted teaching to develop fluency are insufficient.
  • Inconsistencies in depth of knowledge in foundation subjects.

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 71%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 6%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 107
Maths 105

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 6.1
Writing -1.4
Maths 3.6

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Sample

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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2025 Admissions

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 20 0
Third Preference 15 0
From another Local Authority 0 0

Previous Years

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Name Distance
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0.53 miles
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Thatcham Park CofE Primary
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3.45 miles
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St Bartholomew's School
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