St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Upton

Wirral, CH49 6LL · Wirral · primary school

Ofsted: Good · 2019 Mixed Primary Roman Catholic
OfstedGood
Pupils198
FSM24.7%
KS2 expected55%
AI summary of the Ofsted report Inspected 2024-11-21 · 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 Joseph's Catholic Primary School Upton is a happy and welcoming school where pupils are delightful and eager to engage with visitors. Children's behaviour is exemplary, and they benefit from staff knowing them very well as individuals.

Strengths:

  • Pupils are incredibly happy and welcoming.
  • Children's behaviour is exemplary.
  • Staff know pupils very well as individuals.
  • There are many opportunities in place to broaden pupils' horizons.
  • Pupils understand that staff expect them to work hard and produce work of a high quality.
  • The personal development programme is a strength of the school.
  • Pupils experience a broad range of opportunities that enhance their wider development and prepare them well for life in modern Britain.
  • Governors understand their duties well and closely monitor how well the school operates at all levels.

Areas to improve:

  • In a small number of subjects, the school is not sufficiently clear about the most important knowledge that pupils should learn and when this content should be taught.
  • Occasionally, the checks that the school makes on pupils' learning do not identify gaps in pupils' knowledge sufficiently well.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Catchment / designated area

'Every address in Wirral falls within the catchment area of one primary school' — though not necessarily the nearest one.

Source: Wirral admissions policy

Ofsted judgement breakdown (2019-04-16)

Overall effectiveness
Good
Effectiveness of leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding is effective?
Yes
Early years provision (where applicable)
Good

What the entrance test covers

Wirral has THREE different entrance tests depending on the school: 1. The Wirral Admissions Test — shared by the four non-Catholic grammar schools (Calday Grange Grammar School, West Kirby Grammar School, Wirral Grammar School for Boys, Wirral Grammar School for Girls). Two multiple-choice papers taken on the same day, covering verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics. From 2027 entry the papers are supplied by Quest Assessments (previously GL Assessment). One sitting covers all four schools; meeting the standard does not guarantee a place. 2. St Anselm's College (boys, Catholic) — its own entrance test of three one-hour papers produced by the school: verbal reasoning, mathematics, and English (reading comprehension plus a writing task). No fixed pass mark — places are offered in rank order of total score. 3. Upton Hall School FCJ (girls, Catholic) — its own entrance exam of two 50-minute GL Assessment multiple-choice papers: English (Key Stage 2 curriculum — reading comprehension, spelling, grammar, punctuation) and verbal reasoning. The Wirral Admissions Test and the two Catholic schools' tests fall on different dates in September, so a child can attempt all three routes if registered separately for each (the Wirral Admissions Test via the council; the Catholic schools direct).

Similar schools nearby

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

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

Have a specific question about admissions, scores or dates?

Ask SchoolsGPT