St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School

St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School is a warm, welcoming school where pupils achieve highly and benefit from a well-balanced curriculum. Inspectors found strong provision across education, behaviour, personal development, leadership and early years. Pupils enjoy learning, behave well, attend strongly and are proud of the school’s values. Reading and phonics are particular strengths, and pupils with SEND are supported effectively. The school also offers a good range of extracurricular and community opportunities. The inspection was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2014, when it was judged outstanding. It has since had significant staffing changes, including a new headteacher appointed in September 2024. The school remains part of the Diocese of Brentwood and has a Catholic ethos. There are some areas for improvement. In a few subjects, recent curriculum changes mean staff lack the subject knowledge to teach new content well, leading to missed checks on pupils’ prior learning and gaps in knowledge. Safeguarding is effective, but leaders’ actions following concerns are not always clearly recorded. Governors also do not consistently ask the questions needed to hold leaders to account effectively.

Strengths

• Warm and inviting school environment where pupils are excited to learn
• High expectations across all aspects of school life, with pupils achieving highly
• Well-sequenced, well-balanced curriculum beginning in Reception
• Strong systematic synthetic phonics programme from Reception
• Effective support for pupils who need help to catch up in reading
• Pupils behave well and understand the school’s high expectations
• Pupils are confident, respectful and feel safe
• Strong attendance, with effective monitoring and support
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of extracurricular activities and community involvement
• Pupils take pride in roles and responsibilities that contribute to school life
• Pupils with SEND are supported effectively
• Staff feel well supported by leaders
• Governors are committed to continued school improvement

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, recent curriculum changes mean staff are not well trained in the new content they teach
• Staff in some subjects do not always check pupils’ prior knowledge before moving on, leading to gaps in learning
• In some subjects, teaching does not consistently ensure pupils remember more over time
• Safeguarding records do not always clearly capture leaders’ actions following concerns
• Governors do not always ask questions that hold leaders to account effectively

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 Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Joseph the Worker 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 Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School had 24.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.8% 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, 9.8% of pupils at St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.5% 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 Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School received £6,379 and spent £5,983 for each of its 205 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £275,000 (£1,343 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 Brentwood · Essex local authority: places and applications

What is St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School have?

St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School has 205 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School cover?

St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 77% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School?

St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School is at Highview Crescent, Hutton, CM13 1BJ.