Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School

This is a happy, inclusive Catholic primary school where pupils are warmly welcomed and demonstrate respect and courtesy. Inspectors found behaviour and personal development to be particular strengths: pupils have highly positive attitudes to learning, understand high expectations, and benefit from a wide range of leadership, community and enrichment opportunities. Reading is a priority, phonics begins in Reception, pupils with SEND are well supported, attendance is high, and safeguarding is effective. The curriculum is broad and balanced and well sequenced in most subjects, and staff speak positively about trust support for their workload and professional development. The main area for improvement is that in a few subjects the precise knowledge pupils should learn is not clearly set out. As a result, teachers are less effective at helping pupils know and remember that key knowledge, and pupils sometimes struggle to build new knowledge. The school should clarify the most important content and when it should be taught so that pupils can build understanding effectively. This was the school’s first inspection under section 5; it is part of the St Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy Trust and its predecessor school was previously judged good. The trust and local governing body know the school well and provide effective challenge and support.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, polite and consistently demonstrate the school’s virtues of respect and courtesy.
• Behaviour and attitudes are exceptional, with pupils showing highly positive attitudes to learning and clear understanding of high expectations.
• Personal development is exceptionally strong, offering wide leadership opportunities, community involvement and learning about healthy relationships and safety.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, with well-sequenced learning in most subjects.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported and learn the curriculum well.
• Reading is a high priority, with effective phonics teaching from Reception and strong support for pupils who need it.
• Attendance is high, and positive routines are established from early years, supported by a buddy system.
• The behaviour policy is carefully designed, consistently applied and understood by staff, pupils and parents.
• Staff well-being and workload are taken seriously, with strong professional development opportunities through the trust.
• Trust and local governing body know the school well and provide effective challenge and support.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, the precise knowledge pupils should learn is not set out clearly.
• In these subjects, teachers are less effective at helping pupils know and remember key knowledge.
• Pupils sometimes struggle to build new knowledge because the most important content and sequencing are not defined clearly enough.

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 Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.4% 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 Sacred Heart 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 Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School had 21.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.7% 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, 9.9% of pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.5% 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 Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School received £6,817 and spent £7,073 for each of its 193 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £57,000 (£293 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of St Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy Trust, income was £6,831 and spending £6,781 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 Ware · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is part of St Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Hertford) Hertford
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Hoddesdon
• St Cross Catholic Primary School Hoddesdon
• St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School Ware
• St Paul's Catholic Primary School Cheshunt
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Wx) Waltham Cross
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School B/S Bishop'S Stortford
• St Mary's Catholic School Bishop'S Stortford

What is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School have?

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School has 202 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School cover?

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School?

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is at Broadmeads, Ware, Hertfordshire, SG12 9HY.