Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School

Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ School is a caring and high-performing Roman Catholic girls’ school where pupils are safe, well looked after and exceptionally well prepared for their next steps. Inspectors found the school outstanding in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Pupils achieve exceptionally well academically and take part in a wide range of enrichment activities, gaining confidence and resilience. The curriculum is ambitious and broad, including for pupils with SEND, and staff identify undiagnosed needs well and adapt learning so pupils can achieve highly. Teaching is strong across subjects, with teachers checking understanding, addressing misconceptions quickly and giving precise feedback. Pupils are highly focused, behave impressively around the school and attend well. The school also provides an exceptional personal development offer, strong careers guidance and extensive opportunities such as leadership roles, charity work, house music and drama, and a wide range of clubs. Staff are proud to work at the school and value leaders’ attention to workload and well-being, while governors know the school well and provide appropriate support and challenge. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2013, after a period of exemption. No significant weaknesses were identified in the report.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a caring school community and are safe and well looked after.
• Pupils perform exceptionally well academically and in a wide range of enrichment activities.
• The curriculum is ambitious, broad and well designed across subjects.
• Pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum, with effective identification and staff training.
• Reading is prioritised, including targeted interventions and a strong reading-for-pleasure culture.
• Teachers are subject experts who check understanding, address misconceptions quickly and provide precise feedback.
• Pupils have strong attitudes to learning and are exceptionally focused in lessons.
• Behaviour around the school is impressive, with high levels of respect and rare misbehaviour.
• Attendance is high, and staff work sensitively with families in rare cases of persistent absence.
• The personal development offer is exceptional, including well-sequenced PSHE and strong understanding of protected characteristics.
• Careers information, education, advice and guidance are comprehensive and impartial.
• Sixth-form students are excellent role models and receive strong support and guidance.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value leaders’ consideration for workload and well-being.
• Governors know the school well and provide secure support and challenge to leaders.

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 Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 10.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 1.9% of pupils at Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 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 Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School had 17.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 8.7% of pupils at Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School received £7,976 and spent £8,264 for each of its 829 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £541,000 (-£653 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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All schools in Havering · Havering local authority: places and applications

What is Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School is Outstanding, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School have?

Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School has 848 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School cover?

Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 59.5, and 73% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School?

Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School is at St Mary's Lane, Upminster, Essex, RM14 2QR.