SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School

St Mary and St John Junior and Infant School has successfully established itself as a welcoming and inclusive community, reflecting a strong ethos focused on respect and cooperation. The school demonstrates good overall effectiveness with notable strengths in fostering personal development and managing behaviour. Leaders prioritize academic growth and have implemented a solid curriculum, particularly excelling in phonics and early reading education. This is the school’s first inspection since becoming an academy, and it has adapted well since the COVID-19 pandemic, with parents expressing satisfaction with the support provided to their children.

Strengths

• Warm, calm and welcoming atmosphere
• Strong focus on personal and academic development
• High expectations set for pupils, including those with SEND
• Effective behaviour management and positive pupil attitudes
• Broad and ambitious curriculum
• Success in early reading and phonics instruction
• Opportunities for pupils to engage in extra-curricular activities
• Strong support and involvement from parents and the community

Areas for Improvement

• Some subject leaders lack clear understanding of curriculum implementation and its impact
• Insufficient detail in some subjects regarding essential knowledge for pupils
• Issues with regular attendance for a minority of pupils

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 SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.7% 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, 2.5% of pupils at SS Mary & John 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 SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School had 26.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.2% 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, 19.1% of pupils at SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School received £7,799 and spent £7,600 for each of its 430 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £711,000 (£1,653 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of St. John Paul Ii Multi Academy Company, income was £7,187 and spending £7,072 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 Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School is part of St. John Paul Ii Multi Academy Company, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Abbey Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• St Peter and St Paul RC Junior and Infant School Birmingham
• St Edmund Campion Catholic School Birmingham
• Sacred Heart Catholic School Birmingham
• St Nicholas Catholic Primary School Sutton Coldfield
• Bishop Walsh Catholic School Sutton Coldfield
• Maryvale Catholic Primary School Birmingham
• Holy Cross Catholic Primary School Sutton Coldfield
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Sutton Coldfield
• Blessed Dominic Barberi Catholic Primary School Birmingham

What is SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School have?

SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School has 424 pupils on roll.

What age range does SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School cover?

SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are SS Mary & John 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 SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School?

SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School is at Beaufort Road, Erdington, Birmingham, B23 7NB.