St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole

St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Poole has effectively maintained the standards established during its last inspection. The school creates a positive and welcoming environment where pupils thrive academically and socially. High aspirations for all students, supported by dedicated staff, result in most pupils achieving well, particularly in reading, mathematics, and writing. The school also displays a strong commitment to the personal development of its students through a wide range of activities and community involvement.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy a happy and friendly environment.
• Dedicated staff form trusting relationships with pupils.
• The ambitious curriculum connects learning across different subjects.
• Pupils are encouraged to engage in community service and environmental awareness.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Strong focus on reading and vocabulary development.

Areas for Improvement

• A minority of pupils struggle with letter formation and pencil grip.
• Some staff lack the subject expertise to teach early reading effectively.

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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.1% 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole had 24.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.9% 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, 12.4% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.5% 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole received £6,415 and spent £6,586 for each of its 401 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £868,000 (£2,164 per pupil).

Across all 34 schools of Plymouth Cast, income was £8,158 and spending £8,000 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 Poole · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority: places and applications

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Poole Poole
• Christ The King Catholic Primary School Bournemouth
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage Swanage
• St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Wareham
• St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester Dorchester
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull Sturminster Newton
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Weymouth Weymouth
• St Catherine's Roman Catholic School Bridport
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Axminster Axminster
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth Exmouth

What is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole have?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole has 379 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole cover?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole is at Devon Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3QQ.