Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy

Saint Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy is a welcoming primary school where pupils are happy, feel safe and attend well. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years are all good, and safeguarding is effective. Pupils benefit from strong pastoral support, a broad curriculum, good phonics teaching and a wide range of clubs, trips, leadership roles, sport and music. The school has been through significant development since its previous inspection, including new headteacher and deputy headteacher appointments in September 2024, and leaders have identified the right improvement priorities. The quality of education requires improvement. Although the curriculum is broad and ambitious, some classroom activities do not help pupils learn the intended content deeply, and pupils do not always recall important knowledge and vocabulary. Teachers do not consistently check understanding or adapt teaching to address gaps and misconceptions, and learning is not always adapted well enough for pupils with SEND. Published outcomes in 2024 were not where they should be, and the impact of recent curriculum improvements is not yet fully evident. Personal development has notable strengths, but pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values, protected characteristics and different faiths is limited. The school must strengthen this provision so pupils are better prepared for life in modern Britain. Overall, this is a school with good behaviour, pastoral care and leadership that has made important improvements, but it still needs to ensure that curriculum delivery, assessment and SEND adaptation consistently translate those improvements into strong pupil achievement.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and attend well.
• Staff have consistently high expectations of behaviour and maintain a calm, orderly environment.
• Pastoral support is effective and pupils know staff will listen and help.
• Pupils have strong opportunities to develop character through leadership roles, clubs and trips.
• The school is proud of its success in sports and music.
• The curriculum is broad, aspirational and ambitious, with clear sequencing.
• Staff present information clearly and demonstrate secure subject knowledge.
• Early years provision is good and children are well prepared for key stage 1.
• Communication and language are prioritised effectively in the early years.
• Phonics teaching is strong, with staff well trained and books matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge.
• Pupils who fall behind in reading are supported well to catch up.
• Pupils enjoy daily story times and are encouraged to develop a love of reading.
• Pupils contribute positively to the community through roles such as lunchtime leaders and agents of change.
• Leaders, trustees and governors know the school well and have identified the right priorities.
• Staff respect the consideration given to their workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some activities chosen by teachers do not always support pupils to learn the intended curriculum.
• Some pupils are unable to recall their learning confidently.
• Teachers do not always use assessment routines effectively to identify gaps or address misconceptions.
• Teaching is not consistently adapted to meet the needs of pupils.
• Learning is not always adapted well enough for pupils with SEND in some subjects.
• Pupils do not demonstrate a deep understanding of fundamental British values.
• Pupils’ understanding of protected characteristics is in the early stages of development.
• Pupils have a limited understanding of different faiths.
• Published outcomes in 2024 are not where they should be.
• Recent curriculum improvements have not yet fully impacted on how well pupils achieve.

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 Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.4% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Saint Mary's 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 Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy had 21.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.6% 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, 21.9% of pupils at Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.0% 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 Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy received £7,551 and spent £7,258 for each of its 196 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £85,000 (£434 per pupil).

Across all 35 schools of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,555 and spending £7,362 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 Grantham · Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy is part of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Sleaford
• Holy Trinity Catholic Voluntary Academy Newark
• St Augustine's Catholic Voluntary Academy Stamford
• The Sacred Heart Primary Catholic Voluntary Academy Nottingham
• St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School Nottingham
• St Hugh's Catholic Primary, A Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• St Peter and St Paul, Catholic Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• Christ The King Voluntary Academy Nottingham
• Our Lady & St Edward Primary & Nursery Catholic Voluntary Academy Nottingham
• The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary, Arnold Nottingham

What is Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy have?

Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy has 183 pupils on roll.

What age range does Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy cover?

Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy?

Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Sandon Close, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 9AX.