St Stephen's Catholic Primary School

Bexley · DA16 3QG

General information Primary School · 5-11 years Who goes here 419 pupils, 3.1% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 7.9% on SEN support Behaviour 3.2% absence rate Staff 13.9% turnover Financials £6,479 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Stephen's Catholic Primary School

General Information

Address: Ruskin Avenue, Welling, DA16 3QG – View on map
Phone: 02083039738
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Susan Oram
Age range: 5-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 83 families put it first for 59 places – 14 for every 10 places. 69% of them were offered a place. 9 of the 59 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 11 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 14
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

419 pupils out of 420 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 13
% eligible for free school meals: 3.1%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Bexley average)
English as an additional language: 33% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 13.9% a year (Bexley 17.8%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 44% moved to another school, 56% 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

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 Bexley: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 7 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 16 (0.7 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 Bexley, 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: 3.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 2.7%
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: 7.9%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.9%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 14 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 11 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Hearing impairment: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 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 –

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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 April 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 Exceptional
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 Outstanding (2021). 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: 93% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 45% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 26 percentage points above the Bexley average (67%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 91% against an expected 69%)
3-year average (expected standard): 91%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 95% · Writing 95% · Maths 95% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 95%
Average test scores: reading 112, maths 113
Based on: 60 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 schoolBexley averageEngland↗ Improving Up 6 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 26 percentage points above the Bexley average (67%).

Year 6 SATs: 1st of 55 junior and primary schools in the area

#1St Stephen's Catholic Primary School93%
#2St John Fisher Catholic Primary School90%
#3Leigh Stationers' Primary Academy87%

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

#1St Stephen's Catholic Primary School93%
#2St John Fisher Catholic Primary School90%
#3Leigh Stationers' Primary Academy87%
=4Birkbeck Primary School85%
=4Peareswood Primary School85%
=6St Joseph's Catholic Primary School84%
=6St Thomas More Catholic Primary School84%
=8Royal Park Primary Academy83%
=8Upton Primary School83%
=10Foster's Primary School82%
=10Harris Garrard Academy82%
#12Danson Primary School81%
#13Dulverton Primary School77%
#14Burnt Oak Junior School76%
#15Crook Log Primary School75%
=16Longlands Primary School74%
=16St Augustine of Canterbury CofE Primary School74%
=18Bursted Wood Primary School73%
=18Hook Lane Primary School73%
=20Brampton Primary Academy72%
=20Hurst Primary School72%
=22Belvedere Junior School71%
=22East Wickham Primary Academy71%
#24Days Lane Primary School70%
=25Haberdashers' Crayford Primary68%
=25Hillsgrove Primary School68%
=25St Fidelis Catholic Primary School68%
#28St Paulinus Church of England Primary School67%
=29Mayplace Primary School66%
=29Northumberland Heath Primary School66%
=29Old Bexley Church of England School66%
=29Pelham Primary School66%
#33Bedonwell Junior School65%
=34Christ Church (Erith) CofE Primary School64%
=34Sherwood Park Primary School64%
=36Haberdashers' Slade Green Primary63%
=36Lessness Heath Primary School63%
=38Barrington Primary School62%
=38Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School62%
=38Upland Primary School62%
#41St Michael's East Wickham Church of England Primary School61%
=42Barnehurst Junior School60%
=42Belmont Academy60%
=42Orchard Primary School60%
#45Willow Bank Primary School58%
#46Jubilee Primary School57%
=47Fairford Academy Barnehurst56%
=47Gravel Hill Primary School56%
#49Northwood Primary School54%
#50Castilion Primary School53%
#51Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England School52%
#52St. Paul's (Slade Green) Church of England Primary School50%
#53Hope Community School43%
#54Parkway Primary School24%
#55St Peter Chanel Catholic Primary School23%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,479 (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.

34th of 51 primary schools in Bexley for spending per pupil

#32Mayplace Primary School£6,552
#33Danson Primary School£6,546
#34St Stephen's Catholic Primary School£6,479
#35St Joseph's Catholic Primary School£6,473
#36Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England School£6,471

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

#1Parkway Primary School£13,615
#2Lime Wood Primary School£9,631
#3Jubilee Primary School£9,589
#4Willow Bank Primary School£9,275
#5Castilion Primary School£8,786
#6Hope Community School£8,768
#7St Peter Chanel Catholic Primary School£8,670
#8Barrington Primary School£8,601
#9Haberdashers' Crayford Primary£8,573
#10Orchard Primary School£8,263
#11St Augustine of Canterbury CofE Primary School£8,226
#12Haberdashers' Slade Green Primary£8,145
#13St. Paul's (Slade Green) Church of England Primary School£7,937
#14Northwood Primary School£7,599
#15St Fidelis Catholic Primary School£7,541
#16St Michael's East Wickham Church of England Primary School£7,532
#17St John Fisher Catholic Primary School£7,516
#18Royal Park Primary Academy£7,485
#19Northumberland Heath Primary School£7,433
#20Upton Primary School£7,425
#21Sherwood Park Primary School£7,363
#22Longlands Primary School£7,069
#23Hillsgrove Primary School£7,016
#24Belmont Academy£7,015
#25Peareswood Primary School£6,988
#26Hook Lane Primary School£6,950
#27St Paulinus Church of England Primary School£6,847
#28Pelham Primary School£6,741
#29Leigh Stationers' Primary Academy£6,733
#30Crook Log Primary School£6,675
#31Christ Church (Erith) CofE Primary School£6,653
#32Mayplace Primary School£6,552
#33Danson Primary School£6,546
#34St Stephen's Catholic Primary School£6,479
#35St Joseph's Catholic Primary School£6,473
#36Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England School£6,471
#37Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School£6,457
#38Foster's Primary School£6,439
#39Fairford Academy Barnehurst£6,382
#40Lessness Heath Primary School£6,373
#41Hurst Primary School£6,329
#42Dulverton Primary School£6,198
#43Days Lane Primary School£6,156
#44Old Bexley Church of England School£6,120
#45East Wickham Primary Academy£6,075
#46St Thomas More Catholic Primary School£6,031
#47Brampton Primary Academy£5,891
#48Birkbeck Primary School£5,807
#49Bursted Wood Primary School£5,728
#50Gravel Hill Primary School£5,258
#51Upland Primary School£4,735

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

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