St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Norbert’s Catholic Voluntary Academy is a happy, inclusive primary school where pupils enjoy learning and relationships are warm and positive. This was its first section 5 inspection since becoming an academy; Ofsted judged quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision all good, although no overall effectiveness grade is awarded under the current framework. The school is ambitious, including for pupils with SEND, and phonics teaching, early years provision, personal development and enrichment are notable strengths. Pupils’ behaviour is calm and orderly, attendance has improved, and parents are overwhelmingly positive. The main areas for improvement concern writing and curriculum tasks. Some pupils have gaps in vocabulary, syntax, sentence structure and audience awareness, which makes it harder for them to communicate ideas effectively in writing across the curriculum. In some subjects, activities do not consistently help pupils deepen their subject knowledge or prepare them well for the next stage. The school has also seen more pupils with English as an additional language joining partway through key stage 2, which can limit their time to benefit fully from the curriculum before Year 6; this was reflected in some 2024 key stage 2 outcomes.

Strengths

• Happy, inclusive school with warm relationships and calm, orderly behaviour.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum that builds logically on prior content.
• High ambitions and effective support for pupils with SEND.
• Expert phonics teaching with well-matched reading books and targeted support.
• Strong early years provision with clear routines and meaningful learning.
• Thoughtful personal development and enrichment programme.
• Pupils take on leadership roles and develop a strong sense of rights and responsibilities.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school.
• Effective trust and local governing board support and challenge.
• Attendance has improved notably.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils lack secure vocabulary, syntax, sentence structure and audience awareness in writing.
• Some pupils struggle to communicate ideas effectively in writing across the curriculum.
• Some activities do not help pupils deepen their understanding of subject knowledge.
• In some subjects, work does not prepare pupils as well as it could for the next stage of learning.

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 Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.5% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Norbert'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 St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy had 23.7 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, 11.3% of pupils at St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy 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 St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy received £7,079 and spent £7,171 for each of its 206 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £89,000 (£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 Spalding · Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

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

• Saint Mary's RC Primary Academy Boston Boston
• St Augustine's Catholic Voluntary Academy Stamford
• Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Sleaford
• Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy Grantham
• Holy Trinity Catholic Voluntary Academy Newark
• St Peter and St Paul, Catholic Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• St Hugh's Catholic Primary, A Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• Our Lady of Lincoln Catholic Primary School A Voluntary Academy Lincoln
• The Sacred Heart Primary Catholic Voluntary Academy Nottingham
• St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School Nottingham

What is St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy have?

St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy has 204 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy cover?

St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy?

St Norbert's Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Tollgate, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 1NJ.