St Werburgh's and St Columba's Catholic Primary School
General Information
- Address: Lightfoot Street, Hoole, Chester, CH2 3AD – View on map
- Phone: 01244478968
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Nichola Jevons
- Age range: 5-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 36 families put it first for 38 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 8 · 2024 9 · 2025 7 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 24
- % eligible for free school meals: 7.8%
- Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Cheshire West and Chester average)
- English as an additional language: 33% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 2.2% a year (Cheshire West and Chester 11.6%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
- Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% 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 Cheshire West and Chester: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 4 (0.1 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 Cheshire West and Chester, 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: 4.1%
- Persistently absent pupils: 9.5%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 13.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.6%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Social, emotional and mental health: 12 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 11 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 10 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 4 pupils
- Hearing impairment: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 6 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Profound and multiple learning difficulty: 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: 84% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 8% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 22 percentage points above the Cheshire West and Chester average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 81% against an expected 66%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 81%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 90% · Writing 88% · Maths 96% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 88%
- Average test scores: reading 109, maths 108
- Based on: 49 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 6th of 115 junior and primary schools in the area
- #5Belgrave Primary School87%
- =6Guilden Sutton CofE Primary School84%
- =6St Werburgh's and St Columba's Catholic Primary School84%
- #8Comberbach Nursery and Primary School83%
- =9Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School82%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
67th of 92 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Ofsted rating
- #65St Oswald's CofE Primary SchoolGood
- #66St Theresa's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #67St Werburgh's and St Columba's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #68St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #69St Winefride's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,746 (2024-25)
68th of 119 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for spending per pupil
- #66St Winefride's Catholic Primary School£6,773
- #67Little Sutton C of E Primary School£6,748
- #68St Werburgh's and St Columba's Catholic Primary School£6,746
- #69St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School£6,746
- #70Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School£6,738
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)