Holy Family Catholic Academy

Holy Family Catholic Academy is a good school across all inspected areas, in its first routine section 5 inspection since converting to academy status in 2022 and since the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders have high aspirations and have raised expectations through an ambitious curriculum; pupils are positive, behave well, feel part of a happy community, and are well prepared for secondary school. Personal development and wellbeing support are strong, reading is prioritised, phonics is delivered well, pupils with SEND are identified quickly, and attendance is improving. Safeguarding is effective. The main areas for improvement are in the early years and in a small number of subjects where curriculums are new or under review. Early years staff do not always use interactions well enough to extend children’s vocabulary and deepen their thinking, and in recently revised subjects some teachers are still getting to grips with content, so pupils do not revisit and recall earlier learning as securely as in stronger subjects. The trust is asked to ensure recent curriculum changes are fully implemented and that early years staff have the expertise to support children’s language and learning through purposeful interactions. Trust and local governance are a notable strength: trustees and governors know the school exceptionally well and provide confident strategic leadership, and staff development is well supported with manageable workload.

Strengths

• High aspirations and raised expectations across a broad curriculum
• Pupils display positive attitudes to learning and are increasingly ready for secondary school
• Pupils champion diversity and quickly feel part of a happy school community
• Strong support for pupils’ wider development and wellbeing
• Pupils take on leadership roles and contribute ideas for school improvement
• Expanded lunchtime activities and playleaders help create harmonious playtimes
• Trustees and the local governing body know the school exceptionally well and provide confident strategic leadership
• Staff development is well supported and workload is manageable
• Children in the early years typically achieve well
• Several subjects have highly effective curriculums with skilful explanation and adept handling of misconceptions
• Reading is prioritised throughout the school
• Phonics is delivered well, with timely support and appropriately matched books
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and learning is typically matched to their needs
• Pupils behave sensibly in class and at breaktimes and support each other
• Attendance is a high priority and is improving
• Personal development is strong, with pupils showing respect, tolerance and preparation for future life
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Early years staff do not consistently use interactions well enough to extend children’s vocabulary and deepen their thinking
• In a small number of subjects, curriculums are newly implemented or under review, so some teachers are still becoming familiar with content
• In these subjects, pupils do not revisit and strengthen previous learning as well, so recall is less fluent
• Recent curriculum changes need to be implemented fully so pupils develop a rich body of subject knowledge
• Early years staff need sufficient expertise to extend children’s vocabulary and learning through purposeful interactions

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 Family Catholic Academy attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.1% 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, 3.2% of pupils at Holy Family Catholic Academy 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 Holy Family Catholic Academy had 21.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 37.5% 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, 17.1% of pupils at Holy Family Catholic Academy 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 Holy Family Catholic Academy received £6,313 and spent £6,473 for each of its 247 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £47,000 (-£192 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £9,073 and spending £8,887 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 Wigan · Wigan local authority: places and applications

Holy Family Catholic Academy is part of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy St. Helens
• St Cuthbert's Catholic Academy St Helens
• Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy Runcorn
• St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy Liverpool
• St Ambrose Catholic Academy Liverpool
• Holy Spirit Catholic Academy Bootle
• Notre Dame Catholic Academy Liverpool
• St Nicholas Catholic Academy Liverpool
• The Trinity Catholic Academy Liverpool
• St Charles' Catholic Academy Liverpool

What is Holy Family Catholic Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Holy Family Catholic Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Holy Family Catholic Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Holy Family Catholic Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Holy Family Catholic Academy have?

Holy Family Catholic Academy has 228 pupils on roll.

What age range does Holy Family Catholic Academy cover?

Holy Family Catholic Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Holy Family Catholic Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Holy Family Catholic Academy?

Holy Family Catholic Academy is at Wigan Street, Platt Bridge, Wigan, Lancashire, WN2 5JF.