St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup

Rossendale · OL13 8LD

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 125 pupils, 55.9% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 33.6% on SEN support Behaviour 6.5% absence rate Staff 22.2% turnover Financials £8,163 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 Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup

General Information

Address: Huttock End Lane, Stacksteads, Bacup, OL13 8LD – View on map
Phone: 01706873177
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Julie Cawtherley
Age range: 3-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 9 families put it first for 10 places – 9 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 10 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

125 pupils out of 145 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 66
% eligible for free school meals: 55.9%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (similar to the Rossendale average)
English as an additional language: 5% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 22.2% a year (Rossendale 13%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 25% moved to another school, 75% 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 Lancashire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 9 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 3
Suspensions for bullying: 18 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 7 (0.1 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 Lancashire (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: 6.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 19.0%
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: 33.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 9.6%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 15 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 14 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 9 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
Vision impairment: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 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 –

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 April 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 Needs attention
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Needs attention
Leadership and governance Needs attention

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: 50% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 11 percentage points below the Rossendale average (61%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 28% against an expected 45%)
3-year average (expected standard): 28%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 50% · Writing 50% · Maths 56% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 38%
Average test scores: reading 97, maths 100
Based on: 16 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 schoolRossendale averageEngland↗ Improving Up 25 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 11 percentage points below the Rossendale average (61%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 21st of 31 junior and primary schools in the area

#20Haslingden St James Church of England Primary School52%
=21Northern Primary School50%
=21St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup50%
=21St Mary's CofE Primary School Rawtenstall50%
#24Haslingden Broadway Primary School48%

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

#1Helmshore Primary School88%
=2St James-the-Less Roman Catholic Primary School, Rawtenstall81%
=2St Veronica's Roman Catholic Primary School, Helmshore81%
#4Edenfield Church of England Primary School80%
#5St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, Newchurch74%
#6Waterfoot Primary School73%
=7Our Lady and St Anselm's Roman Catholic Primary School, Whitworth72%
=7Ramsbottom Stubbins Primary School72%
=9St Anne's Church of England Primary School71%
=9St Bartholomew's Church of England Primary School71%
=9St John's Stonefold CofE Primary School71%
=9St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Haslingden71%
#13Crawshawbooth Primary School67%
#14Britannia Community Primary School66%
#15St John With St Michael Church of England Primary School65%
#16Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School64%
=17Bacup Thorn Primary School61%
=17Tonacliffe Primary School61%
#19Haslingden Primary School58%
#20Haslingden St James Church of England Primary School52%
=21Northern Primary School50%
=21St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup50%
=21St Mary's CofE Primary School Rawtenstall50%
#24Haslingden Broadway Primary School48%
#25Rawtenstall St Paul's Church of England Primary School44%
#26Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads Church of England Primary School37%
#27Water Primary School36%
#28Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School32%
#29Sharneyford Primary School30%
#30Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School20%
#31St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy15%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,163 (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.

8th of 31 primary schools in Rossendale for spending per pupil

#6Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School£8,875
#7Water Primary School£8,725
#8St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup£8,163
#9St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Haslingden£7,991
#10Waterfoot Primary School£7,914

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

#1St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy£11,584
#2Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School£9,886
#3Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School£9,404
#4Sharneyford Primary School£9,140
#5St John With St Michael Church of England Primary School£9,109
#6Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School£8,875
#7Water Primary School£8,725
#8St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup£8,163
#9St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Haslingden£7,991
#10Waterfoot Primary School£7,914
#11Northern Primary School£7,502
#12Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads Church of England Primary School£7,388
#13St Bartholomew's Church of England Primary School£7,350
#14Haslingden St James Church of England Primary School£7,307
#15St Mary's CofE Primary School Rawtenstall£7,283
#16St John's Stonefold CofE Primary School£7,221
#17Haslingden Primary School£7,163
#18St Veronica's Roman Catholic Primary School, Helmshore£7,125
#19Bacup Thorn Primary School£7,022
#20St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, Newchurch£7,000
#21Haslingden Broadway Primary School£6,976
#22St Anne's Church of England Primary School£6,954
#23Rawtenstall St Paul's Church of England Primary School£6,807
#24Ramsbottom Stubbins Primary School£6,746
#25Our Lady and St Anselm's Roman Catholic Primary School, Whitworth£6,666
#26Helmshore Primary School£6,335
#27Tonacliffe Primary School£6,261
#28Britannia Community Primary School£6,159
#29Crawshawbooth Primary School£6,100
#30Edenfield Church of England Primary School£6,025
#31St James-the-Less Roman Catholic Primary School, Rawtenstall£6,016

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

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

Rate this school