Holy Cross Catholic Primary School

Isle of Wight · PO32 6AS

General information Primary School · 5-11 years Who goes here 148 pupils, 20.3% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 18.9% on SEN support Behaviour 4.3% absence rate Staff 31.2% turnover Financials £6,675 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Holy Cross Catholic Primary School

General Information

Address: Millfield Avenue, East Cowes, PO32 6AS – View on map
Phone: 01983292885
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Lucie Banks
Age range: 5-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 18 families put it first for 18 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

148 pupils out of 210 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 30
% eligible for free school meals: 20.3%
Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the Isle of Wight average)
English as an additional language: 1% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 31.2% a year (Isle of Wight 17.4%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 32% moved to another school, 68% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Isle of Wight: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 5 (0.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Isle of Wight, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 4.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 11.8%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 18.9%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.4%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 17 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card January 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Early years Strong standard
Leadership and governance Needs attention

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 35% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 16 percentage points below the Isle of Wight average (51%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 36% against an expected 61%)
3-year average (expected standard): 36%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 65% · Writing 61% · Maths 58% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 55%
Average test scores: reading 102, maths 99
Based on: 31 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolIsle of Wight averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 16 percentage points below the Isle of Wight average (51%).

Year 6 SATs: 33rd of 36 junior and primary schools in the area

=31Lanesend Primary School37%
=31St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School37%
#33Holy Cross Catholic Primary School35%
#34Greenmount Primary School32%
#35Broadlea Primary School27%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Shalfleet Church of England Primary School75%
#2Dover Park Primary School73%
#3Carisbrooke Church of England Controlled Primary School69%
=4Niton Primary School68%
=4Queensgate Foundation Primary68%
#6Nine Acres Primary School67%
=7Binstead Primary School63%
=7Gatten and Lake Primary School63%
=9Gurnard Primary School62%
=9Nettlestone Primary School62%
#11Newchurch Primary School60%
=12Newport Church of England Aided Primary School59%
=12Wootton Community Primary School59%
#14Arreton St George's Church of England (Aided) Primary School58%
#15The Bay Church of England School57%
#16Bembridge Church of England Primary School54%
#17St Francis Catholic and Church of England Primary Academy53%
#18Summerfields Primary School52%
#19Oakfield Church of England Aided Primary School, Ryde51%
#20Northwood Primary School50%
#21Haylands Primary School49%
=22Godshill Primary School48%
=22St Mary's Catholic Primary School48%
#24St Helens Primary School47%
#25Wroxall Primary School46%
=26Barton Primary School42%
=26Freshwater & Yarmouth Church of England Aided Primary School42%
=28Brading Church of England Controlled Primary School40%
=28St Blasius Shanklin CofE Primary Academy40%
#30Brighstone Church of England Aided Primary School38%
=31Lanesend Primary School37%
=31St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School37%
#33Holy Cross Catholic Primary School35%
#34Greenmount Primary School32%
#35Broadlea Primary School27%
#36St Saviour's Catholic Primary School6%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,675 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

26th of 35 primary schools in Isle of Wight for spending per pupil

#24Queensgate Foundation Primary£6,767
#25Nettlestone Primary School£6,757
#26Holy Cross Catholic Primary School£6,675
#27Northwood Primary School£6,559
#28Newchurch Primary School£6,503

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Arreton St George's Church of England (Aided) Primary School£13,146
#2Brading Church of England Controlled Primary School£12,385
#3Wroxall Primary School£12,330
#4Barton Primary School£9,323
#5Oakfield Church of England Aided Primary School, Ryde£8,764
#6St Saviour's Catholic Primary School£8,473
#7Brighstone Church of England Aided Primary School£8,451
#8Greenmount Primary School£8,380
#9St Mary's Catholic Primary School£8,106
#10St Francis Catholic and Church of England Primary Academy£7,754
#11St Helens Primary School£7,525
#12Shalfleet Church of England Primary School£7,497
#13Godshill Primary School£7,418
#14St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School£7,362
#15Bembridge Church of England Primary School£7,242
#16Lanesend Primary School£7,230
#17Dover Park Primary School£7,223
#18Summerfields Primary School£7,188
#19Broadlea Primary School£7,027
#20Haylands Primary School£6,940
#21Gatten and Lake Primary School£6,928
#22Carisbrooke Church of England Controlled Primary School£6,855
#23Freshwater & Yarmouth Church of England Aided Primary School£6,803
#24Queensgate Foundation Primary£6,767
#25Nettlestone Primary School£6,757
#26Holy Cross Catholic Primary School£6,675
#27Northwood Primary School£6,559
#28Newchurch Primary School£6,503
#29St Blasius Shanklin CofE Primary Academy£6,419
#30Binstead Primary School£6,310
#31Wootton Community Primary School£6,122
#32Gurnard Primary School£6,032
#33Newport Church of England Aided Primary School£5,940
#34Nine Acres Primary School£5,928
#35Niton Primary School£5,873

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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