Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy is performing well overall, achieving a rating of 'Good' across all inspected areas. The school has fostered a caring and supportive environment where kindness is emphasized, and pupils display positive behaviors and strong attitudes towards learning. Since transitioning to a sponsored academy in 2017, the school has made significant strides in improving pupil achievement and engaging parents in their children’s learning. The leadership is committed to continuous improvement and strives to ensure success for all pupils, including those with SEND.

Strengths

• Pupils exhibit excellent behavior and positive attitudes towards learning.
• There is significant parental involvement in children's education.
• The curriculum is well sequenced in core subjects like English, mathematics, and science.
• Reading is a strong focus, with many pupils achieving expected standards early.
• Pupils engage in a variety of extracurricular activities promoting personal development.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum development is inconsistent in some subjects, such as art.
• A high number of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are persistently absent.

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 Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.2% 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, 4.7% of pupils at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic 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 Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.4% 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, 15.2% of pupils at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.6% 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 Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy received £6,591 and spent £6,886 for each of its 213 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £52,000 (£245 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,455 and spending £7,395 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 Doncaster · Doncaster local authority: places and applications

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy is part of St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School Doncaster
• The McAuley Catholic High School Doncaster
• St Peter's Catholic Primary School Doncaster
• St Joseph's School, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Doncaster
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Doncaster
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School (Maltby) Rotherham
• St Gerard's Catholic Primary School Rotherham
• Saint Pius X Catholic High School A Specialist School in Humanities Rotherham
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Rotherham
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Sheffield

What is Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy have?

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy has 217 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy cover?

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy?

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Mere Lane, Armthorpe, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN3 2DB.