Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School

Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School is performing very strongly. Inspectors found high-quality practice across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are described as friendly, welcoming, curious and proud of their school. The school is a calm, nurturing and truly inclusive environment where pupils, staff, parents and carers describe it as 'a family'. Pupils achieve well above national averages, especially in reading and mathematics, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND make positive progress from their starting points. Attendance is at least in line with national averages and persistent absenteeism has halved, though leaders should continue engaging the few parents who do not see the importance of regular attendance. The curriculum is well planned and taught, early years provision is a particular strength, and personal development and pastoral support are extensive. Context matters: this is a smaller-than-average Catholic primary in a highly deprived area with above-average free school meals, and it is part of the St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust. The trust and local governing body are highly effective, and leadership is described as impressive. The only clear next step is to strengthen attendance engagement with a small number of families.

Strengths

• Pupils make progress well above national peers across the curriculum, including in early years.
• Reading and mathematics progress is particularly strong, with many pupils outperforming national peers by the end of Year 6.
• Disadvantaged pupils' progress and attainment are well above national averages.
• Pupils with SEND make positive progress from their starting points.
• Attendance has improved significantly and is at least in line with national averages, with persistent absenteeism halved.
• Pupils are friendly, welcoming and curious, and behaviour is consistently excellent.
• The school is a calm, nurturing and purposeful environment where bullying is dealt with swiftly.
• The curriculum is well structured, with key knowledge and skills thoughtfully broken down.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and adapt teaching effectively for pupils with barriers to learning.
• Oracy work is very successful, helping pupils speak confidently and knowledgeably.
• Early years provision is a bedrock of the school, with warm relationships and high-quality interactions.
• The school is truly inclusive, with embedded SEND practices and targeted individualised support.
• Leaders have a forensic understanding of school performance and take decisive action.
• The trust and local governing body provide highly effective support and meet statutory duties.
• Staff feel valued and involved, and leaders consider their wellbeing and workload.
• Personal development and pastoral support are impressive, creating a strong sense of belonging.
• Pupils learn about safety, healthy relationships, British values and respect for diversity.
• A broad, bespoke extracurricular programme is matched to pupils' interests and well attended.
• Key stage 2 pupils benefit from meaningful careers encounters that raise aspirations.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• Some parents and carers still do not see the importance of regular attendance, and leaders should continue engaging them to reduce missed school time further.

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 Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.4% 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, 0.6% of pupils at Blessed Mother Teresa'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 Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.8% 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, 13.4% of pupils at Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.5% 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 Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School received £7,487 and spent £6,804 for each of its 180 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £197,000 (£1,095 per pupil).

Across all 56 schools of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,565 and spending £7,594 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 Stafford · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School is part of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 64 schools. The nearest others:

• Blessed William Howard Catholic School Stafford
• St Austin's Catholic Primary School and Nursery Stafford
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Stafford
• St Anne's Catholic Primary School Stafford
• St John's Catholic Primary School Stafford
• Cardinal Griffin Catholic College Cannock
• St Dominic's Catholic Primary School Stone
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Stafford
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Cannock
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Cannock

What is Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School is Strong standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School have?

Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School has 201 pupils on roll.

What age range does Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School cover?

Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 100% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School?

Blessed Mother Teresa's Catholic Primary School is at Somerset Road, Highfields, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST17 9UZ.