St Thomas More Catholic First School

St Thomas More Catholic First School is performing well overall. Pupils flourish in an inclusive, welcoming school that sits at the centre of its community, and inspectors found high expectations for behaviour, a calm and purposeful environment, and strong pastoral support. Personal development and early years provision are outstanding, while the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management are good. This was the school’s first routine section 5 inspection; it converted to academy status in 2020 and is part of Our Lady of the Magnificat multi-academy company. The school’s strengths include a broad and ambitious curriculum that is well sequenced, with reading at its heart. Phonics is taught consistently from the start, pupils’ reading knowledge is checked regularly, and extra support is put in place where needed. Pupils with SEND are well supported and make strong progress, and pupils benefit from an exceptionally high-quality personal development offer with many clubs, leadership roles and opportunities to develop responsibility. Staff feel well supported by leaders and the trust, and parents are positive about the school and the rapid improvement it has made. The main area for improvement is the wider curriculum. In some subjects where recent changes have been made, the school has not yet fully identified the essential knowledge pupils need to learn and by when. As a result, pupils do not always gain the depth of understanding they need to make connections with prior learning. The trust needs to ensure that essential knowledge is identified in all subjects across the curriculum. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, respectful and eager to learn in a calm, purposeful environment.
• Personal development is exceptionally high quality, with a wide range of accessible clubs and activities.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well sequenced, helping pupils build knowledge over time.
• Reading is at the heart of the curriculum, with consistent phonics teaching and effective support for pupils who need it.
• Early years provision is outstanding, and children get off to a flying start.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported and make strong progress in line with their peers.
• Pupils have meaningful opportunities to develop responsibility through leadership roles.
• Staff feel well supported by school leaders and the trust.
• Trustees and local governors have a thorough understanding of the school’s strengths and priorities.

Areas for Improvement

• In some wider curriculum subjects, essential knowledge and sequencing are not yet fully identified, so pupils do not always gain the depth of understanding needed to make links with prior learning.
• The trust needs to ensure that the essential knowledge pupils need to know and remember is identified in all subjects across the curriculum.

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 Thomas More Catholic First School attended 96.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.8% 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, 3.1% of pupils at St Thomas More Catholic First 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 St Thomas More Catholic First School had 22.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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, 15.3% of pupils at St Thomas More Catholic First School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.3% 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 Thomas More Catholic First School received £8,283 and spent £7,943 for each of its 162 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £110,000 (£681 per pupil).

Across all 24 schools of St Raphael the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,227 and spending £7,273 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 Redditch · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

St Thomas More Catholic First School is part of St Raphael the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 29 schools. The nearest others:

• St Bede's Catholic Middle School Redditch
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Studley
• St Augustine's Catholic High School Redditch
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic First School Redditch
• Our Lady's Catholic Primary School Alcester
• St Benedict's Catholic High School Alcester
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Henley-In-Arden
• St Peter's Catholic First School Bromsgrove
• St Gregory's Catholic Primary School Stratford-Upon-Avon
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Evesham

What is St Thomas More Catholic First School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Thomas More Catholic First School is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was St Thomas More Catholic First School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Thomas More Catholic First School was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does St Thomas More Catholic First School have?

St Thomas More Catholic First School has 189 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Thomas More Catholic First School cover?

St Thomas More Catholic First School for pupils aged 4 to 9.

Where is St Thomas More Catholic First School?

St Thomas More Catholic First School is at Woodrow Centre, Studley Road, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 7RY.