St Gerard's Catholic Primary School

St Gerard’s Catholic Primary School is a Good school across all inspected areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. It is a safe, welcoming school where pupils enjoy learning, behave well and support one another. The curriculum has been strengthened, staff have high expectations, and pupils are generally well prepared for the next stage of their education. Reading is a particular strength, with highly trained staff and effective support for pupils who need extra practice. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and learn well. The school also provides strong personal development opportunities, including leadership roles, community activities and learning about safety and British values. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement relate to curriculum sequencing in some wider subjects and to independent learning in the early years. In some wider curriculum subjects, intended learning is not clearly sequenced, so pupils do not always build on prior knowledge or make clear connections, and their knowledge can lack depth. In Reception, some activities intended for independent learning are not designed carefully enough for children to succeed without adult support, which limits how well some children learn. Pupils’ knowledge of different faiths is also less developed. The school is part of St Francis Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, and trust leaders have a clear understanding of its strengths and provide effective challenge and support. Governance is committed and carries out statutory duties well. Staff morale is very high, and the school is highly valued by its local community. This was the first inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and inspectors took the pandemic’s impact into account.

Strengths

• Safe and welcoming school where pupils enjoy coming to school
• Pupils behave well, play together positively and celebrate each other’s successes
• Calm and purposeful lessons with strong pupil engagement and collaboration
• Curriculum has been strengthened with high expectations for pupils’ learning
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• Highly trained staff teach phonics well and help pupils become fluent, confident readers
• Strong reading culture with pupils who enjoy reading and write from what they read
• Reception children get a positive start and are supported to learn about feelings and friendships
• Personal development programme teaches safety, respect, tolerance and British values
• Pupils have meaningful leadership roles and a strong community spirit
• Effective behaviour routines and successful strategies for gaining pupils’ attention
• Trust provides effective challenge and support, and governance is committed
• Staff morale is very high and the school is valued by the local community

Areas for Improvement

• Some wider curriculum subjects are not clearly sequenced, so pupils do not always build on prior learning
• Pupils’ knowledge in some wider curriculum subjects sometimes lacks depth
• Some early years independent learning tasks are not designed carefully enough for children to succeed without adult support
• Pupils’ knowledge of different faiths 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 Gerard's Catholic Primary School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.0% 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, 0.7% of pupils at St Gerard's Catholic Primary School 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 Gerard's Catholic Primary School had 22.7 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, 16.7% of pupils at St Gerard's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% 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 Gerard's Catholic Primary School received £7,267 and spent £7,965 for each of its 146 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £36,000 (£245 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,455 and spending £7,395 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 Rotherham · Rotherham local authority: places and applications

St Gerard's Catholic Primary School is part of St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Rotherham
• St Bernard's Catholic High School Rotherham
• Saint Pius X Catholic High School A Specialist School in Humanities Rotherham
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School Rotherham
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School (Maltby) Rotherham
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Sheffield
• St Peter's Catholic Primary School Doncaster
• St Joseph's School, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Doncaster
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School Doncaster
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Doncaster

What is St Gerard's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Gerard's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

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

St Gerard's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

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

St Gerard's Catholic Primary School has 150 pupils on roll.

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

St Gerard's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

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

Where is St Gerard's Catholic Primary School?

St Gerard's Catholic Primary School is at Park Nook Doncaster Road, Thrybergh, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S65 4AE.