The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary academy within the Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Academies Trust. Following an inspection in March 2025, the school is judged good in all key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This represents improvement from its previous inspection, when it was judged to require improvement. Pupils are described as loving school, feeling safe and valued, and being polite, respectful and well behaved. The school’s Catholic virtues are evident in daily life, and pupils learn and play harmoniously together. The curriculum is ambitious, well structured and built carefully from Reception, with reading and phonics given high priority. Pupils with SEND are precisely identified and well supported, and pupils benefit from a wide range of enriching experiences that prepare them well for life in modern Britain. Attendance and persistent absence are improving, safeguarding is effective, and staff feel valued. The trust’s collaborative support is a notable strength. The main areas for improvement concern assessment and curriculum leadership. In some subjects, and sometimes in the early years, staff’s checks do not reliably identify pupils’ misunderstandings or learning gaps, so pupils do not always build knowledge as securely as they could. Leaders also do not have a secure enough understanding of how well pupils are learning in some wider curriculum subjects, which limits their ability to make timely improvements.

Strengths

• Strong Catholic ethos and nurturing culture where pupils feel valued, listened to and safe
• Pupils are polite, respectful and behave well in a calm and orderly school
• Ambitious, well-structured curriculum with clear knowledge and opportunities to revisit key concepts
• Reading is a constant priority, with effective phonics and strong support for weaker readers
• Pupils with SEND are precisely identified, well supported and learn successfully alongside peers
• Personal development is strong, including well-being, respect for difference and preparation for modern Britain
• Attendance and persistent absence rates are dropping due to tailored support
• Staff feel valued and trust support is a strength
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment in some subjects and sometimes in early years does not reliably identify pupils’ misunderstandings or gaps
• Leaders do not have a secure enough understanding of how well pupils are learning in some wider curriculum subjects
• In some subjects, pupils do not build their knowledge as securely as they could

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 The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School attended 96.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.6% 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, 0.7% of pupils at The Good Shepherd 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 The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School had 27.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.9% 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, 17.0% of pupils at The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School received £6,362 and spent £6,931 for each of its 270 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £3,000 (£10 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Academies Trust Ltd, income was £7,187 and spending £7,596 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 Northampton · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is part of Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Academies Trust Ltd, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Northampton
• St Thomas Becket Catholic School Northampton
• St Gregory's Catholic Primary School Northampton
• Our Lady's Catholic Primary School Wellingborough
• St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Kettering
• St Edward's Catholic Primary School Kettering
• St Brendan's Catholic Primary School Corby
• Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Primary School Corby
• St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary and Pre-School Bedford
• St Thomas More Catholic School Bedford

What is The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School have?

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School has 282 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School cover?

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School?

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is at Kingsland Gardens, Kingsthorpe, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN2 7BH.