St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton is a warm and welcoming primary where pupils are happy, polite and respectful, and behaviour is typically good. Inspectors found a strong sense of community, high expectations for achievement, including for pupils with SEND, and effective safeguarding. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and followed the appointment of a new headteacher; it is a Catholic school in the Diocese of Liverpool. Because this was a graded inspection under the current framework, no overall effectiveness grade was given, but all key judgements were good. The school's strengths include a well-planned early years provision that gets children off to a flying start, a curriculum in Years 1 to 6 that builds on this, and effective reading and phonics. Pupils attend regularly, benefit from wider experiences and take on leadership roles. Governors provide effective support and challenge, and staff value the support for their workload and professional development. There are two main areas for improvement. Identification of some pupils' SEND needs is not precise enough, so a few pupils do not receive support that helps them progress well through the curriculum. In addition, checks on pupils' learning are sometimes not effective, meaning gaps in knowledge are missed and some pupils lose focus. The school is already refining its SEND approaches and should ensure assessment checks consistently identify and address gaps.

Strengths

• Warm and welcoming school community where pupils feel valued
• Pupils are polite, well mannered and respectful
• Pupils typically behave well in lessons and around school
• High expectations for pupils' achievement, including pupils with SEND
• Strong early years provision gets children off to a flying start
• Curriculum in Years 1 to 6 builds well on early years learning
• Effective phonics programme with timely support for pupils who need extra help
• Pupils attend regularly and the school supports families to improve attendance
• Wider experiences and leadership roles enhance pupils' development
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Governors know the school's strengths and priorities and support and challenge effectively
• Staff value workload support and professional development

Areas for Improvement

• SEND identification is not precise enough for some pupils
• Support for some pupils with SEND does not help them learn the curriculum as well as it should
• Checks on pupils' learning sometimes do not help teachers spot gaps in knowledge
• Some pupils lose focus when gaps in learning are not addressed

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 Catholic Primary School, Anderton attended 97.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.9% 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, 1.1% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton 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 Catholic Primary School, Anderton had 21.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.6% 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, 13.9% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 Catholic Primary School, Anderton received £6,343 and spent £6,207 for each of its 180 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £64,000 (£356 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 Chorley · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton have?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton has 180 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton cover?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton for pupils aged 5 to 11.

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

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

Where is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton is at Rothwell Road, Anderton, Chorley, Lancashire, PR6 9LZ.