Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School is a small, caring primary academy within Romero Catholic Academy Trust. Inspectors found the school performing strongly in early years, inclusion, and personal development, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils are happy, behave well, and feel safe, and children in early years get off to a successful start. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and learn alongside their peers. Achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance are all at expected standard. Pupils achieve well in national tests, reading and phonics are strengths, and attendance is broadly in line with national averages. Leaders are well informed, staff feel valued, and governance is effective. The school has a strong personal development programme and a wide range of opportunities that build pupils' confidence and character. The main areas for development are ensuring that highly effective teaching is embedded consistently across all classes so pupils can deepen their knowledge further, and continuing work to improve attendance for disadvantaged pupils and reduce persistent absence for some groups. Some pupils occasionally do not learn in the depth they could.

Strengths

• Early years provides a strong start with calm routines and a purposeful environment.
• Inclusion is a strength, with pupils' needs identified quickly and well understood.
• Pupils with SEND receive well-matched support and learn successfully alongside their peers.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is highly effective and broad.
• Pupils behave very well, are polite, respectful, and follow routines consistently.
• Pupils achieve well across the curriculum, with national test results above averages.
• Reading and phonics are taught consistently well.
• Attendance is in line with national averages and persistent absence has reduced over time.
• Leaders know the school well and use support from the trust to refine practice.
• Staff feel valued and supported, and governance provides appropriate challenge.
• Safeguarding has an open and positive culture, and pupils feel safe.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from targeted support to reduce barriers to learning.
• Pupils have access to a wide range of clubs, trips, and leadership roles.

Areas for Improvement

• Highly effective teaching approaches are not used consistently across all classes.
• Some pupils do not learn in the depth they could.
• Attendance for disadvantaged pupils is lower this year.
• Persistent absence for some groups of pupils still needs further reduction.

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 Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.6% 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, 1.6% of pupils at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy 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 Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.3% 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, 10.3% of pupils at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.1% 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 Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy received £8,429 and spent £7,681 for each of its 120 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £212,000 (£1,763 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Romero Catholic Academy Trust, income was £8,388 and spending £8,280 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 Nelson · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is part of Romero Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• St John Southworth RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Nelson
• St John the Baptist RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Burnley
• Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy Burnley
• St Mary's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Burnley
• St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Burnley
• St Augustine of Canterbury RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Burnley
• Christ The King Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Burnley
• Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Colne
• St Anne's and St Joseph's RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Accrington
• St Michael and St John's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Clitheroe

What is Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy have?

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy has 126 pupils on roll.

What age range does Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy cover?

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 86% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy?

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is at Halifax Road, Brierfield, Nelson, Lancashire, BB9 5BL.