St Veronica's Roman Catholic Primary School, Helmshore
General Information
- Address: Raven Avenue, Helmshore, BB4 4EZ – View on map
- Phone: 01706226315
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs NICOLA WHITE
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 12 families put it first for 13 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 9 · 2025 9 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 13
- % eligible for free school meals: 8.7%
- Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (similar to the Rossendale average)
- English as an additional language: 11% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 17.5% a year (Rossendale 13%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 47% moved to another school, 53% 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
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: 3.4%
- Persistently absent pupils: 6.3%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 11.3%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.3%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Social, emotional and mental health: 6 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 5 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
- Physical disability: 2 pupils
- Hearing impairment: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
- Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2024 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 81% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 19% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 20 percentage points above the Rossendale average (61%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (3-year average 81% against an expected 70%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 81%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 85% · Writing 92% · Maths 92% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 92%
- Average test scores: reading 108, maths 110
- Based on: 26 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 2nd of 31 junior and primary schools in the area
- #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%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
22nd of 25 primary schools in Rossendale for Ofsted rating
- #20St John's Stonefold CofE Primary SchoolGood
- #21St Mary's CofE Primary School RawtenstallGood
- #22St Veronica's Roman Catholic Primary School, HelmshoreGood
- #23Tonacliffe Primary SchoolGood
- #24Water Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,125 (2024-25)
18th of 31 primary schools in Rossendale for spending per pupil
- #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
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)