St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy

St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, a voluntary academy, is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating in its first Ofsted inspection since becoming an academy. The school demonstrates exceptional performance in behavior and attitudes, as well as personal development, with pupils enthusiastic about learning and taking on leadership roles. Their well-structured curriculum in early years lays a strong foundation for education, while pupils' exemplary behavior and positive relationships contribute to a productive learning environment. However, there are some areas that require improvement, particularly in writing skills and knowledge retention as pupils progress through key stages.

Strengths

• Outstanding behavior and attitudes among pupils.
• High pupil engagement with a variety of extracurricular opportunities.
• Strong early years provision preparing children exceptionally well for Year 1.
• Effective phonics programme that involves parents and supports reading development.
• Pupils with SEND achieve well and are fully included in school life.
• Positive relationships fostered between pupils and staff.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent expectations for writing skills in key stage 1.
• Some pupils have gaps in knowledge retention from previous key stages.

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 Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.6% 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 St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary 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 St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy had 15.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.1% 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, 20.0% of pupils at St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.3% 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 Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy received £7,503 and spent £8,176 for each of its 105 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £164,000 (£1,564 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Academy Trust, income was £6,593 and spending £6,619 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 Stockport · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy is part of Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• St. Benedict's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Wilmslow
• St Alban's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Macclesfield
• All Hallows Catholic College Macclesfield
• Christ The King Catholic and Church of England Primary School Macclesfield
• St Vincent De Paul Catholic Primary School Knutsford
• Saint Mary's Catholic Primary School Congleton
• St. Mary's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Middlewich
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Winsford
• Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy Ellesmere Port
• St Saviour's Catholic Primary and Nursery School, A Voluntary Academy Ellesmere Port

What is St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy have?

St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy has 110 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy cover?

St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy?

St Paul's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy is at Marley Road, Poynton, Stockport, Cheshire, SK12 1LY.