Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available emoji_events #47 in St. Helens public Top 89% UK

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Carol Gillespie

location_onSt Helens, WA10 1LN

language Visit Website phone 1744678319

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2021

groups

Students

196

school

Expected Standard

44%

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Demand Ratio

1.0x

summarize

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is a Voluntary aided school primary school in St Helens, serving ages 3-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Ranks in the top 89% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is a voluntary aided school in St Helens, St. Helens, admitting pupils aged 3-11. The school has approximately 206 pupils on roll, of whom 39% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 44% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 12% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #47 of 52 primaries in St. Helens and #12,311 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2021. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Good.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 24.1:1. There are 2 teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 4.3 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

44%

LA 60%

Reading64% LA 73%

Writing64% LA 73%

Maths56% LA 71%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

101

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

52%

LA 60%England 61%

Reading72% LA 73% · Eng 74%

Writing64% LA 73% · Eng 72%

Maths60% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

100

GPS SS

102

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

32%

LA 61%England 60%

Reading48% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Writing42% LA 72% · Eng 71%

Maths61% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

102

Maths SS

100

GPS SS

101

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.6

Read

LA 0.3

-1.8 to 3.0

0.3

Write

LA 0.3

-2.0 to 2.6

-0.2

Maths

LA 0.0

-2.5 to 2.1

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

65%

LA 65%England 65%

Reading65% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Writing85% LA 79% · Eng 78%

Maths77% LA 77% · Eng 79%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

-0.2

Read

LA 0.0

-2.6 to 2.3

3.9

Write

LA 0.1

1.6 to 6.1

0.4

Maths

LA 0.1

-1.7 to 2.6

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

46%

LA 62%

Reading57% LA 73%

Writing82% LA 78%

Maths68% LA 74%

Read SS

101

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

-3.8

Read

LA -0.4

-6.1 to -1.5

0.8

Write

LA 0.0

-1.4 to 3

-2.2

Maths

LA -0.6

-4.3 to -0.1

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

12 October 2021

Inspection Report

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28 November 2017

Inspection Report

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27 February 2013

Inspection Report

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10 October 2012

Inspection Report

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26 January 2012

Inspection Report

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18 May 2009

Inspection Report

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10 June 2008

Inspection Report

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23 January 2006

Inspection Report

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17 January 2000

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2021-10-12

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1 EIF

Good

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

2017-11-28

S5 Inspection Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

2013-02-27

None Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.5%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.5%(1 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 206 pupils. During this period, there were 1 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.5%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	206	1	0.5%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	196	16	8.2%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	215	7	3.3%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	206	5	2.4%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	199	7	3.5%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	203	4	2.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	196	7	3.6%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	189	3	1.6%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	194	2	1.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	181	3	1.7%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	174	3	1.7%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	170	3	1.8%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	167	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	166	3	1.8%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	184	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	184	5	2.7%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	172	5	2.9%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	187	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	182	1	0.5%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	186	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	197	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	209	4	1.9%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	210	6	2.9%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	208	2	1.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	202	8	4.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	192	10	5.2%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 21 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 8 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 6 pupils

Physical Disability 4 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 3 pupils

Severe Learning Difficulty 1 pupils