St Vincent's Catholic Primary School

St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School is a warm, nurturing primary where pupils feel safe, behave well and achieve well across a broad, ambitious curriculum. Inspectors judged all key areas – quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision – to be good. The school has addressed the areas for improvement from its previous inspection, including designing a clearly sequenced curriculum, and children in the early years get off to a strong start. Pupils, including those with SEND, are well supported and typically achieve well; reading is a priority from the early years, and most pupils develop confidence and fluency. Pupils’ personal development is a notable strength. They take on leadership and community roles, show kindness and respect, learn about diversity, and benefit from trips, speakers, charity work and first-aid training. Attendance is a focus, and parents value the school’s community role and the support their children receive. Governors provide effective support and challenge, staff feel well supported, and safeguarding is effective. The main area for improvement is reading for a small number of pupils: sometimes teachers move on to new learning too quickly, so pupils do not spend enough time consolidating and embedding key knowledge and skills. The report also notes that 2023 Year 6 statutory test outcomes were below national peers, but says these are not reflective of pupils’ current attainment through the curriculum. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic; it is a voluntary aided school in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, and a falling roll means most pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.

Strengths

• Warm, nurturing environment with strong staff-pupil relationships
• Pupils feel safe, behave politely and follow routines well
• Pupils are enthusiastic, engaged and work hard
• High expectations for achievement, including for pupils with SEND
• Broad and ambitious curriculum that has been improved since the last inspection
• Strong early years provision that inspires a love of learning
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and introduce new learning clearly
• Regular opportunities to revisit prior learning
• Effective checks on pupils’ understanding to shape future learning
• Well-supported SEND pupils with early identification
• Strong phonics teaching and targeted reading support
• Thoughtful personal development and community citizenship opportunities
• Pupils are kind, respectful and celebrate diversity
• Effective action to improve attendance
• Parents appreciate the school’s community role and support
• Skilled governors provide effective support and challenge
• Staff feel well supported by leaders
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• A small number of pupils do not read as fluently as they should, hindering access to age-appropriate texts
• Teachers sometimes move on to new learning too quickly, leaving insufficient time for pupils to consolidate and embed key knowledge and skills

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 Vincent's Catholic Primary School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.7% 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 Vincent'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 Vincent's Catholic Primary School had 14.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 9.2% of pupils at St Vincent's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 14.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 5 pupils.

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 Vincent's Catholic Primary School received £8,221 and spent £9,238 for each of its 128 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £364,000 (-£2,841 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 Vincent's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

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

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

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

St Vincent's Catholic Primary School has 131 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 65% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Vincent's Catholic Primary School?

St Vincent's Catholic Primary School is at Finlay Avenue, Penketh, Warrington, Cheshire, WA5 2PN.