St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston is a very small voluntary aided Catholic primary school with 72 pupils on roll at the time of inspection and a higher-than-average proportion of pupils receiving SEN support. Inspected on 30 June 2026, the school meets safeguarding standards and is judged to be fulfilling expected standards across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development. Leaders have navigated considerable change while keeping pupils' interests central, and pupils benefit from a welcoming, values-led community in which they feel known, safe and well supported. Pupils achieve well overall and are generally prepared for the next stage. National test outcomes are broadly in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics, and disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND progress well from their starting points. Attendance is consistently above national averages, persistent absence is low, behaviour is positive, and early years provision gives children a strong start. Personal development is a notable strength, with pupils learning about safety, wellbeing, healthy relationships, diversity, charity and leadership. Leaders have improved reading and writing through new phonics and writing curricula and high-quality staff training. The main areas for development are that some pupils still have gaps in handwriting and times-table knowledge, which can limit extended writing and more complex mathematical problem-solving, and these gaps are not always addressed quickly enough. Leaders also need to tighten the consistency of SEND identification, assessment and support so that leaders, staff, parents and carers share the same understanding. Governors are committed and fulfil statutory duties, but their monitoring is not yet sharp enough to provide consistently purposeful support and challenge to leaders.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well overall and are generally prepared for the next stage of learning.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND progress well from their starting points.
• Attendance is consistently above national averages and persistent absence is low.
• Pupils behave well, bullying is rare, and incidents are dealt with swiftly and effectively.
• The curriculum is well understood by leaders and taught through a common, generally effective approach.
• Early years provision is carefully designed and gives children a strong start to school.
• Personal development is rich, covering safety, wellbeing, healthy relationships, diversity and citizenship.
• Leadership has managed a period of considerable change while prioritising pupils' interests and staff wellbeing.
• Governors are invested in the school, understand its community and fulfil statutory responsibilities.
• Targeted support helps pupils with SEND and those facing barriers to learning and wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils have gaps in handwriting skills that can limit their ability to write at length.
• Some pupils lack secure times-table knowledge, which can limit more complex mathematical problem-solving.
• Gaps in writing and times-table knowledge are not addressed as quickly as gaps in reading.
• The identification, assessment and support of some pupils with SEND is not as cohesive as it could be because expectations are not consistently shared by leaders, staff, parents and carers.
• Governors do not apply sufficient scrutiny to all aspects of the school's work, limiting their ability to provide consistent and purposeful challenge.

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 Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston attended 97.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 0.0% 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 Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston 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 Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston had 12.9 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, 23.2% of pupils at St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.4% 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 Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston received £8,510 and spent £9,401 for each of its 68 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £55,000 (-£822 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 Blackburn · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston have?

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston has 69 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston cover?

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston?

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston is at Longsight Road, Osbaldeston, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 7HX.