St Mary's Catholic Primary School
General Information
- Address: Silverdale Road, Newcastle Under Lyme, ST5 2TA – View on map
- Phone: 01782619685
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Denise Mellor
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 47 families put it first for 50 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 3 of the 50 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 81
- % eligible for free school meals: 18.6%
- Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Newcastle-under-Lyme average)
- English as an additional language: 41% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 9.5% a year (Newcastle-under-Lyme 12.5%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
- Where they went: about 20% moved to another school, 80% 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. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
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: 4.8%
- Persistently absent pupils: 8.1%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 7.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.1%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Social, emotional and mental health: 12 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 10 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
- Vision impairment: 2 pupils
- Hearing impairment: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
- Moderate 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: 2% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 7 percentage points above the Newcastle-under-Lyme average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 63% against an expected 69%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 63%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 81% · Writing 75% · Maths 83% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 90%
- Average test scores: reading 105, maths 106
- Based on: 59 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 14th of 38 junior and primary schools in the area
- =14Our Lady and St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School69%
- =14St Margaret's CofE (VC) Junior School69%
- =14St Mary's Catholic Primary School69%
- #17Seabridge Primary School68%
- #18Bursley Academy67%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
21st of 31 primary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme for Ofsted rating
- #19St Giles' and St George's Church of England AcademyGood
- #20St John the Evangelist Catholic AcademyGood
- #21St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #22St Mary's CofE Primary SchoolGood
- #23St Thomas' CofE Primary AcademyGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £5,857 (2024-25)
34th of 39 primary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme for spending per pupil
- #32Alsagers Bank Primary Academy£6,056
- #33Ellison Primary Academy£6,022
- #34St Mary's Catholic Primary School£5,857
- #35Bursley Academy£5,823
- #36St John's CofE Primary Academy£5,814
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)