St Columba's Catholic Primary School

St Columba’s Catholic Primary School has maintained its status as a good school since its last inspection in March 2018. The school demonstrates high expectations for its pupils, promoting a rich curriculum that reflects local context and includes a variety of extracurricular opportunities. Pupils actively engage in supporting their community and demonstrate strong social values through initiatives led by student ambassadors. Relationships between pupils and staff are positive, contributing to a nurturing environment where students feel safe and valued.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy a wide range of extracurricular opportunities.
• The school promotes strong values of compassion and community support.
• High expectations are set for all pupils, resulting in good achievement.
• Effective phonics instruction helps all pupils become confident readers.
• Teachers use questioning effectively to identify gaps in students' understanding.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers do not consistently identify pupils who need additional support.
• Rates of absence and persistent absence have been historically high.

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 Columba's Catholic Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.4% 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, 4.7% of pupils at St Columba'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 Columba's Catholic Primary School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.0% 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, 10.4% of pupils at St Columba's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.1% 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 St Columba's Catholic Primary School received £7,559 and spent £7,463 for each of its 193 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £10,000 (-£53 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Lumen Christi Catholic Multi Academy Company, income was £7,611 and spending £7,497 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 Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

St Columba's Catholic Primary School is part of Lumen Christi Catholic Multi Academy Company, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• St James Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• St Brigid's Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• St John Fisher Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School Birmingham
• St Paul's Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• St Peter's Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Birmingham

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Columba's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2023.

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

St Columba's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in December 2023.

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

St Columba's Catholic Primary School has 183 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 80% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Columba's Catholic Primary School?

St Columba's Catholic Primary School is at Lickey Road, Rednal, Birmingham, West Midlands, B45 8TD.