Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School

Overall, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School is performing well. Inspectors found an inclusive, welcoming school where pupils love coming to school and attendance is above national averages, with persistent absence notably low. Behaviour is a strength: pupils are kind, polite and respectful, staff apply expectations consistently, and pupils trust adults to deal with issues fairly. Inclusion is also a standout feature, with strong support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, effective use of additional funding, and secure progress from individual starting points. Personal development and wellbeing are prioritised through a comprehensive programme, strong pastoral care, and a wide range of enrichment and leadership opportunities. This school is part of The Emmaus Catholic Multi Academy Company and is a smaller-than-average Catholic primary in Birmingham, with below-average proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with SEND. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils achieve well overall, and end-of-key-stage-2 results have been close to or above national figures in recent years, including for disadvantaged pupils. However, inspectors identified some areas for improvement: teaching approaches and expectations are not fully consistent across classes and subjects, and in some lessons teachers do not routinely check or address errors in basic skills. This means weaknesses in handwriting, spelling and grammatical features can persist and affect the quality of work in the wider curriculum. Leaders have a clear and accurate view of the school’s strengths and areas for development, and they have made effective improvements, particularly to the writing curriculum and phonics. Even so, their actions are not yet having a consistent impact on the quality of pupils’ work across the wider curriculum. In the early years, children make a positive start and the curriculum is well sequenced, but opportunities to deepen learning are sometimes missed because high-quality questioning and vocabulary modelling are not consistently used by all staff. The next steps focus on embedding consistent teaching, precise checking of errors, and strengthening early years interactions.

Strengths

• Attendance is above national average and persistent absence is notably low.
• Pupils are kind, polite, respectful and behave well.
• Leaders set and apply high behaviour expectations consistently.
• Inclusion is a strength, with strong support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils with SEND benefit from tailored plans and effective adaptations.
• Additional funding is used effectively to remove barriers and provide enrichment.
• The personal development programme is comprehensive and prioritises wellbeing.
• Pastoral support is highly effective and helps pupils manage emotions.
• Pupils have a secure knowledge of British values and respect different faiths and cultures.
• Enrichment and leadership opportunities are wide-ranging and valued by pupils.
• Pupils achieve well overall, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Recent Year 6 results are close to or above national figures in all areas.
• The curriculum is broad and well sequenced.
• Reading is a priority and phonics is typically taught well.
• Early years children make a positive start and are well prepared for Year 1.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with clear oversight and staff development.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching approaches and expectations are not consistent across all classes and subjects.
• Foundational skills such as handwriting, spelling and grammar are not always addressed.
• In some lessons, teachers do not routinely check pupils’ understanding or correct errors.
• Errors in basic skills can persist and affect the quality of work in the wider curriculum.
• Early years staff-child interactions are not consistently high quality.
• Opportunities to deepen children’s understanding in early years are sometimes missed.
• Leaders’ actions have not yet had a consistent impact on the quality of pupils’ work in the wider curriculum.
• Phonics outcomes at the end of Year 1 in previous years were lower than leaders would like, though improvement is beginning.

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 Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School attended 96.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.4% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School had 23.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.4% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School received £7,117 and spent £6,823 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £142,000 (£674 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Emmaus Catholic Multi Academy Company, income was £7,316 and spending £7,265 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.

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All schools in Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School is part of Emmaus Catholic Multi Academy Company, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• St Gregory's Catholic Primary School Smethwick
• Our Lady and St Hubert's Catholic Primary School Oldbury
• St Philip's Catholic Primary School Smethwick
• St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School Oldbury
• St Mary's RC Primary School Brierley Hill
• St Joseph's RC Primary School Stourbridge
• Hagley Catholic High School Hagley
• St Ambrose Catholic Primary Kidderminster
• St Wulstan's Catholic Primary School Stourport-On-Severn
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Droitwich

What is Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School have?

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School has 206 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School cover?

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School?

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School is at Winchfield Drive, Harborne, Birmingham, West Midlands, B17 8TR.