St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School has demonstrated a commendable overall performance, being rated as good across all areas including the quality of education, behaviour, personal development, leadership, and early years provision. The school is noted for creating a vibrant, inclusive environment where pupils feel safe and respected, which aligns with its Catholic ethos. Since its transition to an academy, the school has made significant strides in improving its offerings, particularly in reading instruction and overall curriculum delivery, benefiting from strong leadership and trust collaboration. However, there are areas that require attention, particularly in ensuring that the curriculum is clearly mapped out across all subjects to enhance progressive learning outcomes for students. While the school excels in providing a supportive framework for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) students, challenges remain in deepening pupils' understanding of cultural diversity beyond their own faith and background. Plans are in place to address these gaps, indicating a commitment to continual improvement and inclusivity.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy learning in a caring and vibrant environment.
• Strong relationships between pupils and staff foster a safe atmosphere.
• Effective approach to early reading and phonics instruction.
• Highly inclusive school that meets the needs of SEND pupils well.
• Clear and ambitious curriculum implemented across key stages.
• Positive feedback from parents about early years provision.
• Pupils display exemplary behaviour and are confident in expressing their views.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment at the end of learning sequences is not consistently effective across all subjects.
• Specific knowledge and skills are not clearly mapped out in all subjects.
• Pupils' understanding of cultures and faiths beyond their own is limited.

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 Pontefract attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.0% 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, 0.4% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract 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 Pontefract had 24.3 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, 19.4% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% 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 Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract received £6,210 and spent £6,557 for each of its 221 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £249,000 (-£1,128 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of The Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust, income was £6,890 and spending £7,055 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 Pontefract · Wakefield local authority: places and applications

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract is part of The Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Holy Family and St Michael's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Pontefract
• St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy Pontefract
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford Castleford
• St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School Normanton
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Pontefract
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Moorthorpe Pontefract
• St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy Wakefield
• St Austin's Catholic Primary School Wakefield
• St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Leeds
• English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Wakefield

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract was last inspected in May 2024.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract has 222 pupils on roll.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 77% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract is at Newgate, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF8 4AA.