St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is a small, welcoming Roman Catholic school with a strong caring ethos. Pupils feel safe, valued and happy, and they behave well. The early years provision gives children a secure start, and personal development is a notable strength: pupils take on leadership roles, contribute to the community, and benefit from a wide range of enrichment activities. Attendance is improving, and safeguarding standards are met. The school has a higher-than-average proportion of pupils with EHC plans and a lower-than-average proportion eligible for free school meals. It has experienced significant leadership change and welcomes support from the local authority and diocese. However, the school is not yet achieving as well as it could for all pupils. Inspectors found that the quality of teaching varies, and some pupils, particularly those with SEND and high prior attainment, do not make the progress they should. Gaps in basic skills, especially grammar, punctuation and spelling, hold back writing across the curriculum. The identification of pupils' needs is not always accurate, leading to inconsistent support. Senior leaders' capacity is stretched, which has slowed improvement in teaching, and governors do not yet provide sufficiently effective challenge. The school has clear next steps to address these issues, including improving teaching consistency, matching the curriculum to pupils' age and stage, and targeting support precisely.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, valued and happy, with warm relationships with staff.
• Pupils behave well, are friendly and polite, and bullying is rare.
• Early years provides a secure, nurturing start and prioritises personal, social and emotional development.
• Personal development is well designed, with strong enrichment, leadership roles and community involvement.
• Attendance is improving due to close work with families to remove barriers.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are fully included in enrichment and leadership opportunities.
• Staff feel well supported and parents are positive about the school.
• Safeguarding standards are met.
• Leaders have redesigned the curriculum for mixed-age classes and invested in reading and mathematics.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils, including high attainers and those with SEND, do not achieve as well as they could, particularly in national assessments.
• Gaps in grammar, punctuation and spelling hamper writing accuracy across the curriculum.
• Teaching quality varies, with inconsistent subject knowledge and activities sometimes too easy.
• Teachers' checks do not consistently address gaps, so pupils repeat errors in letter formation, spelling and punctuation.
• Pupils with SEND do not always receive the support they need because needs are not accurately identified.
• Leadership capacity is stretched, slowing improvement in teaching consistency.
• Governors do not have a clear enough understanding of some areas and do not challenge leaders effectively enough.
• Some early years children do not yet read with accuracy.
• Leaders are still developing pupils' understanding of fundamental British values.

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, Wrightington attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.3% 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, 1.3% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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, Wrightington had 16.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.7% 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, 11.9% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.4% 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 Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington received £10,456 and spent £10,569 for each of its 67 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £18,000 (£276 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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What is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington's Ofsted rating?

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

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington was last inspected in June 2026.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington has 67 pupils on roll.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington'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, Wrightington?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington is at Mossy Lea Road, Wrightington, Wigan, Lancashire, WN6 9RE.