Good Shepherd Catholic School

Good Shepherd Catholic School is a Roman Catholic primary in Coventry, part of Romero Catholic Academy. Inspectors found safeguarding standards met and no areas requiring attention or urgent improvement. Most areas—achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, and leadership and governance—are at expected standard, while personal development and wellbeing is a distinctive strength. The school serves a disadvantaged community with above-average SEN support and many pupils speaking English as an additional language. The school's Catholic ethos and inclusive, welcoming culture are evident. Pupils feel safe, valued and part of one family; relationships are warm; behaviour is calm and respectful; bullying is rare. Leaders have improved reading and phonics, early years provision, inclusion and attendance. Pupils benefit from a wide range of leadership roles, trips, residentials, sports and charitable activities, and are well prepared for secondary school. Leaders know the school well and have accurate improvement priorities. However, assessment in lessons is not yet fully consistent: some teachers do not check understanding precisely enough, so misconceptions can be missed before pupils move on. A small group still has significant attendance difficulties, and persistent absence is above national. Evaluation of pupil premium spending is not yet precise enough to show which strategies work best, and disadvantaged pupils' published outcomes have been lower than national in some recent years, though leaders have targeted support and outcomes are improving. Next steps focus on these areas.

Strengths

• Personal development and wellbeing are a distinctive strength, underpinned by the school's Catholic ethos.
• Pupils feel safe, valued and welcomed as part of one family.
• Behaviour is calm and respectful, and pupils say bullying is rare.
• A wide range of leadership roles, sports, performances, visits and charitable activities broaden pupils' horizons.
• Leaders have improved reading and phonics, with a strong culture of reading.
• Early years provision is positive and prioritises communication, language and early reading.
• Inclusion is effective: vulnerable pupils and pupils with SEND are well known and supported to access the curriculum.
• Leaders, governors and trustees have an accurate understanding of the school and hold leaders to account.
• Attendance is improving because leaders work closely with families and remove barriers.
• The curriculum is ambitious and carefully sequenced, and pupils achieve well from their starting points.
• Safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is not fully consistent across classes; teachers do not always check pupils' understanding precisely enough before moving on.
• A small group of pupils continues to experience significant attendance difficulties, and persistent absence is above national.
• Evaluation of pupil premium spending is not yet precise enough to identify which strategies have the greatest impact.
• Published outcomes for disadvantaged pupils have been lower than national in some recent years, with negative disadvantage gaps in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Leaders' understanding of the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with lower attendance still needs strengthening.

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 Good Shepherd Catholic School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.0% 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, 2.5% of pupils at Good Shepherd Catholic 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 Good Shepherd Catholic School had 33.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.9% 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, 25.6% of pupils at Good Shepherd Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 Good Shepherd Catholic School received £7,080 and spent £7,499 for each of its 236 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £111,000 (£473 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Romero Catholic Academy, income was £7,461 and spending £7,446 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 Coventry · Coventry local authority: places and applications

Good Shepherd Catholic School is part of The Romero Catholic Academy, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Coventry
• St John Fisher Catholic Primary School Coventry
• Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School Coventry
• SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School Coventry
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Coventry
• St Gregory's Catholic Primary School Coventry
• Corpus Christi Catholic School Coventry

What is Good Shepherd Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Good Shepherd Catholic School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Good Shepherd Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

Good Shepherd Catholic School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Good Shepherd Catholic School have?

Good Shepherd Catholic School has 227 pupils on roll.

What age range does Good Shepherd Catholic School cover?

Good Shepherd Catholic School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Good Shepherd Catholic School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Good Shepherd Catholic School?

Good Shepherd Catholic School is at Spring Road, Foleshill, Coventry, West Midlands, CV6 7FN.