St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Castleford is a warm, welcoming Catholic school where nurturing relationships and high expectations create a positive culture. Pupils behave well, achieve well and are engaged learners, and leaders are highly ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND. The school’s Catholic values, strong pastoral care and effective safeguarding arrangements mean pupils feel safe and supported. The school’s early reading provision is a notable strength, with consistent phonics teaching, targeted support and well-matched resources. The wider curriculum is carefully sequenced, staff benefit from strong professional development, and governors and trustees understand their roles and support improvement. Enrichment activities, pupil leadership roles and personal development provision help pupils contribute positively and understand online safety and health. There are a few areas for improvement. Early years activities are not always closely focused on children’s next steps, assessment in some foundation subjects is less developed, and pupils’ understanding of some British values, particularly the rule of law and individual liberty, is uneven. This graded inspection did not result in an overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming Catholic ethos with nurturing relationships and strong pastoral care.
• High expectations that pupils rise to, with good behaviour and excellent manners.
• Pupils achieve well and are engaged, keen participants in lessons.
• Highly ambitious curriculum, including for pupils with SEND.
• Effective, consistent phonics teaching with targeted support for pupils at risk of falling behind.
• Well-sequenced wider curriculum with well-considered adjustments for pupils with SEND.
• Strong staff professional development and collaboration across the trust.
• Effective behaviour management and a reward system that motivates pupils.
• Well-resourced early years provision where staff know children well.
• Broad enrichment through clubs, pupil leadership roles and outdoor learning.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements and strong pastoral support.
• Governors and trustees understand their roles and successfully support improvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years activities are not always closely matched to children’s next steps, limiting learning.
• Assessment in some foundation subjects does not clearly show what pupils know and remember, risking gaps in knowledge.
• Pupils’ understanding of some British values, especially the rule of law and individual liberty, is less developed.

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 Castleford attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.3% 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, 1.0% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford 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 Castleford had 24.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.1% 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, 15.2% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.0% 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 Castleford received £5,930 and spent £6,208 for each of its 207 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £153,000 (£738 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 Castleford · Wakefield local authority: places and applications

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

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

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

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

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford was last inspected in November 2024.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford has 197 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford is at Pontefract Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 4JB.