St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School is a small, welcoming and inclusive school where pupils feel safe and cared for. Safeguarding standards are met, and inspectors found inclusion and personal development and wellbeing to be secure. Leaders identify pupils' needs quickly, support pupils with SEND well, and use pupil premium funding so disadvantaged pupils can access trips, clubs and enrichment. Pupils learn about healthy relationships, safety, British values and respect for difference, and staff prioritise pastoral support and positive relationships. However, the school has several areas that require improvement. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should; attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has been below average for three years, and many pupils have gaps in basic skills such as letter and number formation, phonics, reading fluency and spelling. Early years provision is not consistently well taught, and some children do not secure the foundations for later learning. Curriculum delivery is uneven, expectations are not consistently high, and leaders' improvement work is at an early stage. Attendance remains low, persistent absence is above average, and some pupils' behaviour and suspension rates are a concern. Governors do not yet provide sufficient challenge, including on the pupil premium strategy and curriculum impact. Context matters: this is a smaller-than-average school with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and a well-above-average proportion of pupils with SEN support, and many pupils join partway through their primary education. Inspectors recognised that published results do not fully reflect this mobility. The headteacher was appointed after the last inspection, and the school uses two registered alternative provisions. The next steps focus on strengthening early years reading and writing, making curriculum delivery consistently good, remedying writing gaps, improving attendance, and sharpening leadership and governance oversight.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school where pupils feel safe and cared for
• Safeguarding standards are met
• Inclusion is secure and pupils are supported to feel ready to learn
• Leaders quickly identify and support pupils' needs, including those arriving mid-year
• Pupils with SEND are well supported and progress well towards their individual goals
• Personal development and wellbeing are prioritised and taught well
• Pupils learn how to keep healthy, build positive relationships and stay safe online
• Pupils understand fundamental British values and respect differences
• Pupil premium funding helps disadvantaged pupils access trips, visits and clubs
• Strong pastoral support helps pupils feel safe and that they belong
• Most pupils behave well and care for each other
• Pupils benefit from enrichment, clubs, residential visits and leadership roles
• Staff wellbeing and workload are prioritised, and staff feel valued
• Leaders build positive relationships with parents, carers and the wider community
• Early years children benefit from high-quality staff interactions and support for personal development

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve as well as they should, with uneven progress across the school
• Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has been below average for three years
• Some pupils lack basic skills in letter formation, number formation, phonics, reading fluency and spelling
• Early years curriculum is not taught consistently well
• Early years staff do not have high enough expectations for children's learning
• Some children do not secure early reading and writing foundations before Year 1
• Some pupils are not well prepared for the next stage of their education
• Attendance remains low, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• Persistent absence is above the national average
• Some pupils miss too much learning, creating gaps in knowledge
• Some pupils do not behave as leaders expect, and short-term suspensions are not reducing
• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent in some year groups
• Some staff do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve
• Teachers do not pay close enough attention to gaps in pupils' basic skills, especially writing
• Teachers sometimes move on without ensuring pupils have secured key knowledge
• Leaders' actions to improve some areas are at an early stage
• Systems to check teaching quality have not fully resolved variability in curriculum delivery
• Governors do not provide sufficient challenge, including on pupil premium impact and curriculum impact
• Early years children are not helped quickly enough when they make mistakes
• Some children do not gain secure knowledge of letter sounds, which hinders reading confidence

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's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.0% 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, 4.5% of pupils at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup 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's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.6% 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, 33.6% of pupils at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.6% 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's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup received £10,199 and spent £10,267 for each of its 122 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £88,000 (£723 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).

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All schools in Bacup · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup have?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup has 125 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup cover?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup is at Huttock End Lane, Stacksteads, Bacup, Lancashire, OL13 8LD.