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St Finbar's Catholic Primary School

Liverpool, L8 9RY · Liverpool · primary school

Ofsted: Good · 2021 Mixed Primary Roman Catholic
OfstedGood
Pupils159
FSM62.8%
KS2 expected54%
AI summary of the Ofsted report Inspected 2022-01-17 · Tap to collapse

Generated by AI from the official inspection report — not written by Ofsted or SchoolsGPT staff. Always read the full Ofsted PDF before relying on this summary.

Overview: St Finbar's Catholic Primary School is a happy and welcoming place where pupils enjoy attending, feel safe, and achieve well. The school has a well-structured approach to learning, with teachers having high expectations for pupils and pupils engaging positively in their learning.

Strengths:

  • Pupils are proud of the work that they do to support others, such as fundraising for local charities.
  • Pupils benefit from the many trips that teachers organise to support their learning.
  • The school has a well-structured approach to learning phonics, with staff being highly knowledgeable about early reading.
  • Pupils have access to a wide range of books and enjoy reading regularly.
  • Leaders and staff know pupils well and work closely with them and their families to check on and look after their well-being.

Areas to improve:

  • Members of the governing body do not have an accurate view about how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum.
  • Leaders have not ensured that the curriculums in a small number of subjects are sufficiently well organised, hindering pupils from making connections between what they are learning and their knowledge from previous years.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders having ensured that there are robust procedures in place to help keep pupils safe, and all staff receiving appropriate safeguarding training.

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Catchment / designated area

Children living within a school's catchment area are usually prioritised, ahead of pure distance tiebreaker.

Source: Liverpool admissions policy

Ofsted judgement breakdown (2021-11-16)

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Effectiveness of leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding is effective?
Yes
Early years provision (where applicable)
Good

What the entrance test covers

The Blue Coat School uses a two-phase, fully COMPUTER-BASED assessment (keyboard and mouse required — very different from the paper tests used in most grammar areas): Phase 1 (early July, end of Year 5) — an online adaptive test of about 1 hour 40 minutes: five 20-minute modules including reading (word recognition, decoding, comprehension) and other core skills, using CEM's Primary Insight platform. All registered children sit Phase 1. Phase 2 (mid-September of Year 6) — for children who pass Phase 1: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and non-verbal reasoning via the Cambridge Select Insight test. Results arrive in mid-October; qualifying children can then name the school on the Common Application Form by 31 October.

Similar schools nearby

Same area, prioritising the same phase — useful for shortlisting alternatives.

Matthew Arnold Primary School 0.1 mi · Primary · Good Liverpool, L8 9UB St Cleopas' Church of England Primary Academy 0.3 mi · Primary · Good Liverpool, L8 4RP The Belvedere Preparatory School 0.3 mi · Primary Liverpool, L8 3TF St Silas Church of England Primary School 0.5 mi · Primary · Outstanding Liverpool, L8 3TP Holy Family Catholic Primary School 0.6 mi · Primary · Good Liverpool, L8 6QB St Michael-in-the-Hamlet Community Primary School 0.6 mi · Primary · Good Liverpool, L17 7BA

Data sourced from GIAS, Ofsted and official Liverpool admissions publications. Figures can change year to year — always confirm with the school before applying.

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