St Monica's Catholic Primary School

St Monica's Catholic Primary School is a caring and ambitious primary school where pupils are happy, feel safe and achieve well. Inspectors judged the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision to be good, while personal development was outstanding. The school has high expectations, reading is central to the curriculum, pupils with SEND are identified early and supported well, and pupils benefit from a strong wider offer in performing arts and sport. Under the current framework, no overall effectiveness grade was given. The report highlights exemplary personal, social and health education and outstanding opportunities for pupils' personal development, including well-chosen trips, residential visits, mental health support and preparation for secondary school. Safeguarding is effective, and governors are mindful of staff workload and well-being. The main areas for improvement are that some wider-curriculum subjects lack sufficient detail for staff, which can limit how well pupils learn in those topics, and that a small number of pupils who find reading and writing difficult do not get enough opportunities to apply their phonics knowledge in writing, which can slow their development as fluent writers.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and are warmly welcomed into a caring school community
• Pupils achieve well and are fully prepared for the next stage of their education
• Reading is at the heart of the curriculum, with a strong phonics programme starting in Reception
• Pupils with SEND are identified early and achieve well from their starting points
• Personal development is outstanding, with an exemplary PSHE curriculum
• The school provides a rich wider offer, including performing arts and competitive sport
• Pupils benefit from carefully chosen trips, residential visits and well-considered well-being support
• Governors know the school well and are mindful of staff workload and well-being
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Some wider-curriculum subjects lack sufficient detail for staff, limiting activity design in some topics
• A small number of pupils who struggle with reading and writing do not get enough opportunities to practise phonics through writing
• Some pupils do not develop fluency in writing as quickly as they could

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 Monica's Catholic Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.7% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Monica'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 Monica's Catholic Primary School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.5% 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, 13.8% of pupils at St Monica's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% 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 Monica's Catholic Primary School received £6,506 and spent £6,622 for each of its 152 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £16,000 (£105 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 Warrington · Warrington local authority: places and applications

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Monica's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

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

St Monica's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

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

St Monica's Catholic Primary School has 152 pupils on roll.

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

St Monica's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Monica's Catholic Primary School?

St Monica's Catholic Primary School is at St Monica's Close, Appleton, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 3AG.