St John Fisher Catholic Primary School

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary academy within the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Multi Academy Trust. Following a period of leadership turbulence, current leaders, trustees and governors have brought stability and clear strategic direction. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school has a highly inclusive culture, strong pastoral support and positive relationships. Pupils behave well, attendance is improving, and the personal development offer is broad and purposeful. The main concerns are pupils' achievement and the consistency of curriculum implementation. Too few pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, have achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined by the end of Year 6, and some pupils have persistent gaps in basic skills such as handwriting and spelling. Assessment is not always used precisely enough to match activities to pupils' needs, and key knowledge is not consistently taught explicitly. Early years provision is improving after past weaknesses, but more work is needed to ensure children are consistently ready for Year 1. Leaders know what needs to improve and are taking appropriate action. Achievement is improving rapidly, phonics and early reading are taught well, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are increasingly well supported. However, the impact of recent improvements is not yet fully evident in pupils' outcomes, and attendance, while much better, still needs further work for a small number of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture with swift identification and effective support for pupils with SEND
• Careful use of pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils' academic progress, attendance and wellbeing
• Calm and purposeful school environment with consistently positive behaviour and mutual respect
• Effective attendance work with methodical analysis and strong knowledge of pupils and families
• Broad personal development offer including enrichment, clubs, leadership roles and online safety education
• Ambitious and coherent curriculum with strong phonics and early reading teaching
• Leadership and governance provide stability, strategic direction and effective challenge and support
• Staff feel valued and well supported with workload and wellbeing
• High-quality early years interactions that develop language, vocabulary and classroom routines

Areas for Improvement

• Too few pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined, especially disadvantaged pupils
• Some pupils have persistent gaps in basic skills such as handwriting and spelling
• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent across the school
• Assessment does not always lead to activities that precisely meet pupils' needs
• Key knowledge is not consistently taught explicitly enough
• Early years historically left too many children unprepared for Year 1, and improvements are not yet fully embedded
• Attendance remains above national averages for overall and persistent absence, although it is improving
• The impact of leaders' improvement work is not yet fully evident in pupils' achievement

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 John Fisher Catholic Primary School attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.4% 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, 1.4% of pupils at St John Fisher 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 St John Fisher Catholic Primary School had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.6% 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, 20.1% of pupils at St John Fisher Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.9% 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 John Fisher Catholic Primary School received £7,501 and spent £6,924 for each of its 280 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £121,000 (£434 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,092 and spending £6,783 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 Loughton · Essex local authority: places and applications

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School is part of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• St Luke's Catholic Academy Harlow
• St Alban's Catholic Academy Harlow

What is St John Fisher Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St John Fisher Catholic Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in February 2026.

When was St John Fisher Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School was last inspected in February 2026.

How many pupils does St John Fisher Catholic Primary School have?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School has 268 pupils on roll.

What age range does St John Fisher Catholic Primary School cover?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St John Fisher Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St John Fisher Catholic Primary School?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School is at Burney Drive, Loughton, Essex, IG10 2DY.