St Dominic's Catholic Primary School

St Dominic's Catholic Primary School is a small Catholic primary in the St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust. Inspectors found it performs at a very high level: achievement and early years are exceptional, while attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing are all strong standard. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, make remarkable progress from their starting points, and statutory assessment outcomes are consistently above national averages. The early years provision is particularly notable for its ambitious curriculum, expert support and rich language development, and pupils behave well and attend regularly. Leaders have a clear, ambitious vision, strong professional development, and effective governance. The school's Catholic ethos and personal development programme are strengths, with pupils developing confidence, resilience and responsibility. There are no critical weaknesses identified. The main next step is to continue improving curriculum implementation so that exceptional achievement is sustained for all pupils. Inspection data also shows disadvantaged pupils' writing outcomes below the national average and a negative disadvantage gap, though the report's narrative judges provision for disadvantaged pupils to be highly effective.

Strengths

• Exceptional achievement across all phases, with pupils making remarkable progress
• Exceptional early years provision with an ambitious curriculum and expert support
• Strong standard attendance and behaviour, with attendance above national average and persistent absence below
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum and consistently effective teaching
• Inclusion is embedded, with effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Strong leadership and governance with a clear vision and robust challenge
• High-quality personal development and wellbeing provision, including enrichment and leadership opportunities
• Safeguarding standards met with an open and positive culture
• Pupils are confident, resilient and well prepared for the next stage
• Statutory assessment outcomes consistently above national averages
• Staff feel valued and supported, with strong professional development

Areas for Improvement

• Continue to improve curriculum implementation to sustain exceptional achievement for all pupils
• Disadvantaged pupils' writing outcomes are below the national average, with a negative disadvantage gap

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 Dominic's Catholic Primary School attended 96.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.6% 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, 0.5% of pupils at St Dominic's 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 St Dominic's Catholic Primary School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% 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, 5.0% of pupils at St Dominic's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.4% 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 St Dominic's Catholic Primary School received £6,996 and spent £7,009 for each of its 202 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £267,000 (£1,320 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 Stone · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

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

• St Augustine's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Gregory's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Thomas More Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Teresa's Catholic (A) Primary School Stoke-On-Trent
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Stafford
• St Filumena's Catholic Primary School Stoke-On-Trent
• Our Lady's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Our Lady and St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School Newcastle
• St Austin's Catholic Primary School and Nursery Stafford
• Blessed William Howard Catholic School Stafford

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Dominic's Catholic Primary School is Strong standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

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

St Dominic's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

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

St Dominic's Catholic Primary School has 221 pupils on roll.

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

St Dominic's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 92% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Dominic's Catholic Primary School?

St Dominic's Catholic Primary School is at Margaret Street, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 8YG.