St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School

St Alban’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School is a welcoming school where pupils are proud to attend, feel cared for and have positive relationships with staff. Inspectors found high expectations and an ambitious curriculum, generally calm behaviour, and effective support for the small number of pupils who need extra help managing their behaviour. This was the school’s first section 5 inspection since it became an academy; its predecessor had been judged to require improvement, and the school is part of the St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust. The curriculum has undergone significant change and many pupils produce work of a high standard. Reading is a priority, with daily phonics and a well-stocked library, but a small number of pupils have not secured the sounds they need and take longer to learn to read. Support for pupils with SEND is improving through training, but some support plans do not yet give staff precise enough information about how to adapt the curriculum, so provision can be generic and pupils sometimes stall. Attendance has improved because of effective action and high-quality support. Personal development is exceptional, with a rich enrichment offer, pupil leadership roles, community work and strong teaching about safety. Early years provision is carefully designed, with a sharp focus on communication, language and vocabulary. Leaders are ambitious, governors and trustees are knowledgeable and proactive, staff feel well supported, parents are overwhelmingly positive and safeguarding is effective. The main priorities are to ensure all staff use the new teaching strategies consistently and to sharpen the information and support for pupils with SEND.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, proud and feel a strong sense of belonging.
• Relationships between pupils and staff are positive and caring.
• The curriculum is ambitious and has been developed across subject areas.
• Many pupils produce work of a high standard.
• Behaviour around school and in lessons is generally calm.
• Reading is a priority, with daily phonics and a well-stocked library.
• Staff receive ongoing phonics training and checks identify pupils needing catch-up support.
• The school has taken effective action to improve attendance.
• Personal development is exceptional, with high-quality enrichment and community opportunities.
• Pupils show high levels of respect for each other.
• Early years provision is carefully designed and prioritises communication and language.
• Leaders, governors and trustees are ambitious and proactive.
• Staff are well supported and leaders protect their workload.
• Parents and carers speak overwhelmingly positively about the school.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some staff do not clearly understand or use the new teaching strategies well enough.
• In some cases, the school has not checked the impact of curriculum development closely enough.
• A small number of pupils have not secured the phonics sounds they need to read well.
• Not all pupils’ SEND support plans have been updated with helpful information on adapting the curriculum.
• In some lessons, support for pupils with SEND is not precise enough, so pupils stall in their 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 Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.1% 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 Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery 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 Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.0% 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, 25.2% of pupils at St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School received £7,688 and spent £8,112 for each of its 228 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £23,000 (£101 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £8,072 and spending £8,099 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.

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All schools in Doncaster · Doncaster local authority: places and applications

St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School is part of St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Primary School, A Catholic Voluntary Academy Sheffield
• Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School Barnsley
• St Catherine's Catholic Primary School (Hallam) Sheffield
• Emmaus Catholic and CofE Primary School Sheffield
• St John Fisher Primary, A Catholic Voluntary Academy Sheffield
• All Saints' Catholic High School Sheffield
• Sacred Heart School, A Catholic Voluntary Academy Sheffield
• St Marie's School, A Catholic Voluntary Academy Sheffield
• Notre Dame High School Sheffield
• St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School Sheffield

What is St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School have?

St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School has 226 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School cover?

St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School for pupils aged 0 to 11.

What are St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School?

St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School is at Wadworth Street, Denaby Main, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN12 4AQ.