SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy

SS. Mary and John’s Catholic Primary Academy has shown significant improvement since its last inspection, moving from a grade of Requires Improvement to Good in overall effectiveness. The leadership, under the recently appointed principal Krystyna Bickley, has made positive changes that have fostered a caring and inclusive environment for students. The school is recognized for its commitment to ensuring every child becomes a confident reader from an early age, supported by strong relationships between staff and pupils, and an inclusive culture that celebrates diversity. However, while the school has a structured curriculum, there are areas where staff training and differentiation in lessons need further development to enhance pupil progress, particularly in certain subjects.

Strengths

• Strong relationships between pupils and staff based on kindness and mutual respect.
• Commitment to ensuring every child becomes a confident and fluent reader from an early age.
• Inclusive environment welcoming students from diverse cultures and faiths.
• Well-planned personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum.
• Support for pupils with SEND to ensure they progress well.

Areas for Improvement

• Staff have not received appropriate training in some subjects to identify core knowledge needed by pupils.
• Some lessons are not adequately adapted to support differing abilities of pupils.

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 SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.6% 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, 0.0% of pupils at SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary 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 SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy had 20.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.5% 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, 20.1% of pupils at SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy received £7,598 and spent £7,757 for each of its 214 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £193,000 (£902 per pupil).

Across all 56 schools of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,565 and spending £7,594 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 Wolverhampton · Wolverhampton local authority: places and applications

SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy is part of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 64 schools. The nearest others:

• Holy Rosary Catholic Primary Academy Wolverhampton
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary Academy Wolverhampton
• St Edmund's Catholic Academy Wolverhampton
• St Michael's Catholic Primary Academy and Nursery Wolverhampton
• SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary Academy & Nursery Wolverhampton
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary Academy Wolverhampton
• St Mary's Catholic Primary Academy Wolverhampton
• Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Academy Wolverhampton
• St Chad's Catholic Primary School Dudley
• St Anthony's Catholic Primary Academy Wolverhampton

What is SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy have?

SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy has 229 pupils on roll.

What age range does SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy cover?

SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 79% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy?

SS Mary and John's Catholic Primary Academy is at Caledonia Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV2 1HZ.