St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy

St. Bernadette’s Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy has demonstrated a commendable level of performance, earning a 'Good' rating across key areas such as quality of education, behaviour, personal development, leadership, and early years provision. The school has nurtured a welcoming environment where kindness and Catholic values flourish, contributing to strong student engagement and positive relationships between staff and pupils. With a focus on English and mathematics, all pupils, including disadvantaged groups, achieve well. Although the school has maintained positive outcomes since its last inspection, it has faced challenges in adapting its teaching methods to meet the diverse needs of students, particularly in some lessons and in the outdoor learning environment for early years children.

Strengths

• Warm and supportive relationships between staff and pupils
• Strong focus on English and mathematics leading to good pupil achievement
• Broad and engaging curriculum with ample extracurricular opportunities
• Good support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• Positive school culture emphasizing care, respect, and British values

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum learning intentions are not always precise enough
• Outdoor learning environment for early years is underdeveloped

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. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.4% 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. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy 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. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy had 21.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 17.7% of pupils at St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 2024–25 St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy received £6,505 and spent £6,633 for each of its 324 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £141,000 (£434 per pupil).

Across all 35 schools of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,555 and spending £7,362 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Scunthorpe · North Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy is part of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• St Bede's Catholic Voluntary Academy Scunthorpe
• Saint Augustine Webster Catholic Voluntary Academy Scunthorpe
• St Mary's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy (Brigg) Brigg
• St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy Scunthorpe
• Our Lady of Lincoln Catholic Primary School A Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy Grimsby
• St Hugh's Catholic Primary, A Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• St Peter and St Paul, Catholic Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary and Nursery School Newark
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Mansfield

What is St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy have?

St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy has 327 pupils on roll.

What age range does St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy cover?

St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy?

St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy is at Anne's Crescent, Ashby, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN16 2LW.