St Mary's Catholic Primary School
General Information
- Address: Holden Road, Salterbeck, Workington, CA14 5LN – View on map
- Phone: 01946830433
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs D Douglas
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 23 families put it first for 23 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 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 89
- % eligible for free school meals: 46.8%
- Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (similar to the Cumberland average)
- English as an additional language: 5% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 26.3% a year (Cumberland 14.2%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 23% moved to another school, 77% 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.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Cumberland: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 4 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 8 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 5 (0.2 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 Cumberland, 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: 5.6%
- Persistently absent pupils: 15.0%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 10.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.9%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 10 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 5 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2022 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 69% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 13 percentage points above the Cumberland average (56%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (3-year average 63% against an expected 56%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 63%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 90% · Writing 69% · Maths 86% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 90%
- Average test scores: reading 107, maths 105
- 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
Year 6 SATs: joint 29th of 111 junior and primary schools in the area
- =25St Patrick's Catholic Primary School70%
- =29Belle Vue Primary School69%
- =29St Mary's Catholic Primary School69%
- =31Houghton CofE School68%
- =31Longtown Primary School68%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
77th of 96 primary schools in Cumberland for Ofsted rating
- #75St James' Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #76St Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #77St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #78St Matthew's CofE SchoolGood
- #79St Michael's CofE Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,790 (2024-25)
83rd of 105 primary schools in Cumberland for spending per pupil
- #81Richmond Hill School£6,903
- #82Hayton CofE Primary School£6,815
- #83St Mary's Catholic Primary School£6,790
- #84St Bridget's Catholic Primary School£6,767
- #85St Michael's CofE Primary School£6,727
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)