St Mary's RC Primary School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Primary
PUPILS
458
AGES
3 - 11
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Voluntary aided school
SCHOOL GUIDE RATING
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Can I Get My Child Into This School?

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This pupil heat map shows where pupils currently attending the school live.
The concentration of pupils shows likelihood of admission based on distance criteria

Source: All attending pupils National School Census Data, ONS
0161 770 3000

This School Guide heat map has been plotted using official pupil data taken from the last School Census collected by the Department for Education. It is a visualisation of where pupils lived at the time of the annual School Census.

Our heat maps use groups of postcodes, not individual postcodes, and have naturally soft edges. All pupils are included in the mapping (i.e. children with siblings already at the school, high priority pupils and selective and/or religious admissions) but we may have removed statistical ‘outliers’ with more remote postcodes that do not reflect majority admissions.

For some schools, the heat map may be a useful indicator of the catchment area but our heat maps are not the same as catchment area maps. Catchment area maps, published by the school or local authority, are based on geographical admissions criteria and show actual cut-off distances and pre-defined catchment areas for a single admission year.

This information is provided as a guide only. The criteria in which schools use to allocate places in the event that they are oversubscribed can and do vary between schools and over time. These criteria can include distance from the school and sometimes specific catchment areas but can also include, amongst others, priority for siblings, children of a particular faith or specific feeder schools. Living in an area where children have previously attended a school does not guarantee admission to the school in future years. Always check with the school’s own admission authority for the current admission arrangements.

3 steps to help parents gather catchment information for a school:

  1. Look at our school catchment area guide for more information on heat maps. They give a useful indicator of the general areas that admit pupils to the school. This visualisation is based on all attending pupils present at the time of the annual School Census.
  2. Use the link to the Local Authority Contact (above) to find catchment area information based on a single admission year. This is very important if you are considering applying to a school.
  3. On each school page, use the link to visit the school website and find information on individual school admissions criteria. Geographical criteria are only applied after pupils have been admitted on higher priority criteria such as Looked After Children, SEN, siblings, etc.

How Does The School Perform?

Good
NATIONAL AVG. 2.09
Ofsted Inspection
(06/12/2023)
Full Report - All Reports
84%
NATIONAL AVG. 60%
% pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics



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Progress Compared With All Other Schools

UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 8% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 11% of schools in England) Average (About 59% of schools in England) Above Average (About 11% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England)
Clive Road
Failsworth
Manchester
M35 0NW
01616816663

School Description

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have provided the school with strong leadership in the two years since taking up your post. The improvements that you have made to the learning environment, systems and procedures mean that the school is in a stronger position now than it was at the time of the last inspection. You are rightly proud of the school’s many strengths, but understand the importance of sustaining these. You also have a sharp focus on addressing the small number of areas that still require further improvement. Senior and middle leaders work collaboratively to realise your clear vision for the school. You have developed leadership capacity at all levels. The culture that you have created empowers talented and committed leaders to make a real difference to the quality of teaching and learning. You have raised expectations of what pupils can achieve at St Mary’s and are to be commended on how you have taken the whole school community with you. Staff feel very well supported. The responses to the staff online questionnaire were extremely positive. Teachers appreciate how much you consider their work–life balance. For example, you do not ask them to perform unnecessary tasks and you ensure that new procedures are implemented within a manageable timeline. The collaborative way that teachers plan learning not only benefits their workload, but also ensures that there are consistent standards across the school. Pupils clearly enjoy coming to school. They value the kindness of their teachers and other staff. They particularly appreciate the help that they receive if they are struggling in any way. Without any doubt, staff at this school care deeply for every pupil. This is particularly the case for those pupils who are vulnerable. This nurturing environment enables pupils to thrive and achieve well. Pupils at St Mary’s benefit from a rich and varied curriculum, including a range of enrichment activities. For example, all pupils in Year 4 learn a brass instrument and perform at The Bridgewater Hall. The very inclusive school choir also performs at this prestigious music venue. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Many of the parents who responded to the online questionnaire spoke of how happy their children are and how much they love coming to school. They value how friendly and approachable the staff are and the family ethos of the school. Parents appreciate the balance that you have achieved at the school between caring for their children and ensuring that they achieve well. As one parent commented, ‘I could not be happier with St Mary’s and the way that my daughter’s educational and emotional well-being is nurtured.’ At the last inspection, leaders were asked to make sure that the most able pupils were being challenged enough. Ensuring that the most able pupils make good progress and attain high standards has been a high priority for you in the last two years. The actions that you have taken have had a positive impact, particularly in mathematics. Making sure that all pupils, particularly the most able, make good progress in reading, however, remains an ongoing priority for you. Safeguarding is effective. A strong safeguarding culture permeates the whole school. While this has always been the case, one of your first priorities after taking up your post was to hone the protocols and procedures relating to all aspects of safeguarding. This means that very strong systems underpin the culture that puts children’s safety and well-being at the heart of the school. You understand the strong link between attendance and safeguarding. To this end, you appointed an attendance and family liaison officer. Her work with pupils and their families has led to improved attendance, particularly of disadvantaged pupils. Absence figures are broadly in line with national averages, but improving pupils’ attendance and punctuality remains a priority for leaders. You ensure that all staff have appropriate, up-to-date training so that they are confident both about noticing any signs of potential abuse or neglect and the correct procedure to follow should that be the case. Vulnerable pupils are particularly well cared for at your school. The well-being of all pupils is a high priority. One staff member is a trained counsellor. You are also part of a scheme organised by the diocese that provides a social worker to support your work with pupils. Systems to ensure that only suitable people are recruited to work with children in the school are secure and monitored monthly. Inspection findings In recent years, pupils’ rates of progress in reading, writing and mathematics have been at or above national averages. However, the most able pupils have not made consistently good progress. This was particularly the case in mathematics and reading in 2017. In addition, the proportion of pupils attaining the high standard in these areas was noticeably lower than the national average in 2017. Consequently, I was interested to find out what actions leaders have taken to ensure that the most able pupils make the best possible progress and attain well in these areas. The early release of the unvalidated 2018 key stage 2 national performance data shows that leaders’ actions in mathematics have had a significant impact. The most able pupils have made much better progress and a much higher proportion have attained the higher standard. While a higher proportion also attained the higher standard in reading, the most able pupils still did not make good enough progress in this area. During the inspection, you were able to explain very clearly how you have brought about these improvements and the reasons for the different levels of success in mathematics and reading. Last year, all teachers had a performance management target related to the most able pupils in mathematics. This reflected the high profile of this area across the school. The highly skilled leader for mathematics delivered ongoing training to staff, focusing on challenge and application skills. You also made sure that this leader had the time to work with staff to support their subject knowledge. You identified pupils to attend preteaching sessions before the start of the school day. Meticulous tracking of pupils’ progress in mathematics ensured that you could evaluate the impact of your actions throughout the year. Mathematics has been a strength of the school for some time, but the strategic focus on this subject throughout last year has taken this subject to the next level. Consequently, pupils’ performance in mathematics in 2018 was very impressive. Improving pupils’ progress in reading, particularly for the most able, was your other main priority last year. While you had some success in this area, it was not as significant as in mathematics and this is now your top priority for this year. Your approach to improving reading focuses on building pupils’ vocabulary. Rightly, this is a long-term strategy rather than a superficial ‘quick fix’. The ‘grow your vocabulary’ strategy is evident throughout the school and is a fundamental part of pupils’ learning. Pupils develop their vocabulary and, importantly, embed and apply this new knowledge and understanding in their learning. The literacy leader has used her strong subject knowledge to train teachers and model highquality teaching in this area. You are providing ongoing training for teachers to improve their confidence in teaching comprehension skills. A system is in place to track precisely pupils’ progress in reading and to evaluate the effectiveness of your actions throughout the year.

St Mary's RC Primary School Parent Reviews



unlock % Parents Recommend This School
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>80, "agree"=>18, "disagree"=>1, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>85, "agree"=>13, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>68, "agree"=>30, "disagree"=>2, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
My Child Has Not Been Bullied Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"my_child_has_not_been_bullied"=>79, "strongly_agree"=>5, "agree"=>6, "disagree"=>3, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>5} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>67, "agree"=>27, "disagree"=>4, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>2} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
I Have Not Raised Any Concerns Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"i_have_not_raised_any_concerns"=>37, "strongly_agree"=>34, "agree"=>22, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>53, "agree"=>40, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 15 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>56, "agree"=>33, "disagree"=>2, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>7} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>64, "agree"=>33, "disagree"=>1, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>61, "agree"=>31, "disagree"=>6, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>65, "agree"=>30, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>5} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>63, "agree"=>31, "disagree"=>2, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>3} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>50, "agree"=>34, "disagree"=>4, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>10} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023
Yes No {"yes"=>97, "no"=>3} UNLOCK Figures based on 98 responses up to 08-12-2023

Responses taken from Ofsted Parent View

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