St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden

St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Sabden is maintaining its status as a good school, as reflected in its latest inspection. The school fosters a welcoming environment with a strong sense of community, where pupils are happy, engaged, and supported by committed staff. High expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are integral to the school's ethos. The curriculum is well-structured to help pupils gain and retain knowledge, although there are areas for improvement in assessment practices across some subjects.

Strengths

• Strong community feel with pupils feeling safe and valued.
• High expectations for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Effective phonics curriculum to support early reading.
• Warm relationships between pupils and staff.
• A variety of extra-curricular activities offered to spark interest.
• Effective leadership and management, ensuring staff well-being.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent assessment practices across some subjects.
• Missed opportunities to address gaps in pupils' prior knowledge.

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, Sabden attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.3% 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, 1.5% of pupils at St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden 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, Sabden had 21.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.8% 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, 18.8% of pupils at St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.1% 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, Sabden received £10,136 and spent £10,038 for each of its 69 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £77,000 (£1,117 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

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden is Good, from an inspection in January 2023.

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

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden was last inspected in January 2023.

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

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

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

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

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

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden is at Watt Street, Sabden, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 9ED.