St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is performing at a level that requires improvement overall. While the school environment is calm and nurturing, and pupils express happiness in their learning, there are notable inconsistencies in the curriculum that hinder academic progress. Despite strong leadership initiatives and good behaviour among pupils, the teaching methods used in certain subjects, particularly in the early years and reading for older students, need enhancement to meet educational aspirations effectively. The school has faced staffing challenges that have impacted the overall quality of education, indicating a need for strategic stability in staffing to support student development more effectively.

Strengths

• Pupils have a positive attitude towards learning.
• There are strong relationships between pupils and adults, fostering a feeling of safety.
• Behaviour in lessons and around the school is calm and well managed.
• Pupils experience good opportunities for personal development and leadership.
• Phonics teaching is well-structured and effectively supports early reading.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum is inconsistent and not fully implemented across all subjects.
• Teachers lack the knowledge to adapt the curriculum for students with SEND.
• Monitoring of curriculum delivery is ineffective, leading to gaps in knowledge for some pupils.
• Reading curriculum for older pupils is poorly established, affecting their reading development.
• High staff turnover has hindered quality education and stability.

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 Joseph's Catholic Primary School attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% 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 Joseph's 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 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.9% 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, 15.8% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.6% 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 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School received £7,600 and spent £8,575 for each of its 187 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £115,000 (£617 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Christus Catholic Trust, income was £7,498 and spending £7,699 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 Stanford-Le-Hope · Thurrock local authority: places and applications

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is part of Christus Catholic Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• St Anne Line Catholic Infant School Basildon
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Basildon Basildon
• St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School Grays
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Tilbury
• Holy Cross Catholic Primary School South Ockendon
• St Peter's Catholic Primary School Billericay

What is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was St Joseph's Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School have?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School has 196 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School cover?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is at Scratton Road, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, SS17 0PA.