St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Lichfield · WS14 9AN

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 205 pupils, 8.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 15.6% on SEN support Behaviour 3.8% absence rate Staff 3.4% turnover Financials £6,832 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

We haven't asked this school for its behaviour and staffing figures yet. Sign up to tell us you'd like them, and we'll email you when they arrive.

Notify me

Your email address

Leave this empty

We'll email you a link to confirm first. Your address is only used for news about this school, and every email has a link to stop them. Privacy

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

General Information

Address: Cherry Orchard, Lichfield, WS14 9AN – View on map
Phone: 01543263505
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Deirdre McLeary
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 33 families put it first for 30 places – 11 for every 10 places. 88% of them were offered a place. 1 of the 30 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 11 · 2026 11
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

205 pupils out of 210 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 18
% eligible for free school meals: 8.8%
Pupil mix: 5 in 10 (more mixed than the Lichfield average)
English as an additional language: 17% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 3.4% a year (Lichfield 12.5%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% 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 Staffordshire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 12 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 8 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (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 Staffordshire (the council area this school is in), 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: 3.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 5.6%
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: 15.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.9%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 21 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
Vision impairment: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Severe learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil

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 –

Be the first to review — win £100 of books for your school Every honest review enters you into our prize draw

Behaviour

–

Openness

–

Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

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.

–

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.

–

Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card March 2026

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

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

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2022). 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: 79% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 10% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 9 percentage points above the Lichfield average (70%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 74% against an expected 69%)
3-year average (expected standard): 74%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 90% · Writing 83% · Maths 86% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 93%
Average test scores: reading 108, maths 106
Based on: 29 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 schoolLichfield averageEngland↗ Improving Up 14 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 9 percentage points above the Lichfield average (70%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 7th of 37 junior and primary schools in the area

#6The St. Mary's CofE Primary School80%
=7Greysbrooke Primary School79%
=7St Joseph's Catholic Primary School79%
=9Five Spires Academy78%
=9St Peter's Church of England Primary Academy78%

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

#1Mary Howard Church of England Primary School100%
#2Christ Church CofE (C) Primary School86%
#3St Michael's CofE (C) Primary School85%
#4Whittington Primary and Nursery School83%
#5Little Aston Primary Academy82%
#6The St. Mary's CofE Primary School80%
=7Greysbrooke Primary School79%
=7St Joseph's Catholic Primary School79%
=9Five Spires Academy78%
=9St Peter's Church of England Primary Academy78%
#11St Stephen's Primary School77%
#12The Croft Primary School76%
=13All Saints Church of England Primary and Nursery School75%
=13Gentleshaw Primary Academy75%
=13St Leonard's CofE (A) Primary School75%
=13Streethay Primary School75%
=17Fulfen Primary School73%
=17Manor Primary Academy73%
#19Holly Grove Primary Academy70%
=20Chadsmead Primary Academy69%
=20The Richard Crosse CofE Primary School69%
#22Millfield Primary School68%
=23Charnwood Primary Academy67%
=23Longwood Primary School67%
=23Ridgeway Primary Academy67%
#26St Chad's CofE Primary School62%
=27Chase Terrace Primary School61%
=27Scotch Orchard Primary School61%
#29Thomas Barnes Primary School60%
#30Henry Chadwick Primary School53%
#31Boney Hay Primary Academy52%
#32The Howard Primary School50%
=33Springhill Primary Academy45%
=33St James Church of England Primary Academy45%
#35St Andrew's Church of England Primary School44%
#36Hayes Meadow Primary School37%
#37Highfields Primary Academy32%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,832 (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.

20th of 40 primary schools in Lichfield for spending per pupil

#18The Howard Primary School£7,027
#19Fradley Park Primary and Nursery School£6,933
#20St Joseph's Catholic Primary School£6,832
#21Whittington Primary and Nursery School£6,628
#22The Croft Primary School£6,627

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

#1Mary Howard Church of England Primary School£11,667
#2St Andrew's Church of England Primary School£9,854
#3Ridgeway Primary Academy£9,116
#4Anna Seward Primary£8,431
#5Springhill Primary Academy£7,818
#6Hayes Meadow Primary School£7,779
#7Chadsmead Primary Academy£7,678
#8Manor Primary Academy£7,540
#9Streethay Primary School£7,515
#10Henry Chadwick Primary School£7,467
#11All Saints Church of England Primary and Nursery School£7,371
#12St James Church of England Primary Academy£7,363
#13Chase Terrace Primary School£7,335
#14Boney Hay Primary Academy£7,161
#15Fulfen Primary School£7,112
#16St Leonard's CofE (A) Primary School£7,092
#17Charnwood Primary Academy£7,059
#18The Howard Primary School£7,027
#19Fradley Park Primary and Nursery School£6,933
#20St Joseph's Catholic Primary School£6,832
#21Whittington Primary and Nursery School£6,628
#22The Croft Primary School£6,627
#23Christ Church CofE (C) Primary School£6,535
#24Longwood Primary School£6,527
#25St Peter's Church of England Primary Academy£6,496
#26The St. Mary's CofE Primary School£6,358
#27The Richard Crosse CofE Primary School£6,207
#28St Stephen's Primary School£6,195
#29Five Spires Academy£6,031
#30Holly Grove Primary Academy£6,023
#31St Chad's CofE Primary School£5,985
#32Thomas Barnes Primary School£5,908
#33Highfields Primary Academy£5,793
#34Little Aston Primary Academy£5,747
#35Willows Primary Academy£5,638
#36Scotch Orchard Primary School£5,630
#37Millfield Primary School£5,401
#38Gentleshaw Primary Academy£5,398
#39Greysbrooke Primary School£4,605
#40St Michael's CofE (C) Primary School£4,226

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

Have you rated St Joseph's Catholic Primary School yet? Your experience helps other parents.

Rate this school