St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy

St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy is a caring school where staff know pupils well and positive relationships are evident. Pupils generally enjoy school, behave well, and benefit from a wide range of personal development opportunities, including trips, responsibilities, and support for well-being. Reading is a clear priority, with an effective phonics programme and strong support for pupils who need extra help, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Attendance and punctuality have improved, and the trust is supporting the school to focus on improvement. However, pupils' achievement is variable, particularly for older pupils, who are not consistently well prepared for secondary education. The curriculum is not sharply focused on the most important knowledge, and in some subjects, including mathematics, pupils do not learn the intended content well enough. Teachers do not always address gaps in pupils' knowledge before moving on, and weaknesses in writing, including letter formation in the early years, hinder achievement across the curriculum. The school does not consistently identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND, which limits how well some of these pupils learn. Leadership in some key areas is underdeveloped, and improvement is uneven across the school. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, following its conversion to academy status in April 2024. The predecessor school was judged good, and the school has had interim leadership arrangements for considerable periods, with a new headteacher expected to start imminently. The trust provides useful support, staff morale is high, and leaders are focused on improving pupils' achievement.

Strengths

• Staff know pupils well and build strong, positive relationships across the school.
• Pupils' physical and mental well-being is well supported, particularly for pupils with SEND and those attending the Nest.
• Most pupils enjoy school, demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and behave well.
• The school has high aspirations for all pupils.
• Personal development is strong, with a wide range of experiences, responsibilities and trips.
• Pupils are well informed about how to stay safe, including in their local community.
• Reading has a high priority, with an effective phonics programme in the early years.
• There is robust support for pupils who find reading difficult, using well-matched books and frequent practice.
• Attendance and punctuality have improved, increasing time available for learning.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• The trust supports the school and governors to focus on priority improvement areas.
• Staff morale is high, and workload is managed well during a period of many new initiatives.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement is variable, especially for older pupils, who are not consistently well prepared for secondary education.
• The curriculum is not focused sharply enough on the most important knowledge pupils need to know.
• In some subjects, including mathematics, pupils do not learn the intended curriculum as well as they should.
• There is often too much content in subject curriculums for older pupils to learn securely.
• Identified vocabulary is sometimes unnecessarily complex, so pupils do not fully understand what they are learning.
• Teachers do not consistently address fundamental gaps in pupils' knowledge before introducing new information.
• Pupils' misconceptions and gaps in learning persist as they move through the school.
• The school has not ensured pupils develop fluency in writing, including consistently legible and correctly formed letters in the early years.
• Underdeveloped writing skills hinder many pupils' achievement across the curriculum.
• The school does not identify pupils' SEND consistently well, making it harder to support their learning needs.
• Leadership of some key areas is underdeveloped, so staff are not as well supported as they should be.
• Improvement is uneven, including in curriculum development, because some areas of leadership are less effective.
• A high proportion of older pupils require additional reading support because of less effective delivery of the phonics programme in the past.

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 Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.1% 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, 2.0% of pupils at St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary 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 St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy had 17.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.5% 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, 26.4% of pupils at St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.1% 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 St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy received £7,572 and spent £8,699 for each of its 447 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £485,000 (£1,086 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Liverpool Joint Catholic and Church of England Academies Trust, income was £8,407 and spending £8,419 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 Liverpool · Liverpool local authority: places and applications

St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy is part of The Liverpool Joint Catholic and Church of England Academies Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• The Academy of St Francis of Assisi Liverpool
• Faith Primary Academy Liverpool
• St Cleopas' Church of England Primary Academy Liverpool
• St Margaret's Church of England Academy Liverpool
• St Michaels Church of England Academy Crosby
• The Academy of St Nicholas Liverpool
• Trinity St Peter's CofE Primary School Liverpool
• St Mary's Catholic Junior Academy Newton-Le-Willows
• St Mary's Catholic Infant Academy St Helens
• Hope Academy Newton-Le-Willows

What is St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy have?

St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy has 428 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy cover?

St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy?

St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy is at Utting Avenue East, Norris Green, Liverpool, Merseyside, L11 1DB.