Holy Family Catholic Primary School

About Holy Family Catholic Primary School

Holy Family Catholic Primary School sits within Sefton local authority, one of 74 primary schools in the area. It ranks 38th among them, placing it in the bottom half of the local table. The top-performing peers nearby include St Thomas Church of England Primary School, Lydiate, St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School, and Shoreside Primary School, all of which score notably higher on the same ranking metric. Holy Family is a state-funded Roman Catholic primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, with a capacity of 210 and currently 200 pupils on roll. The school is led by headteacher Marie Hilton and has a religious character that will appeal to Catholic families in the area. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in June 2024, rated the school Good overall, a rating it has held consistently since its previous graded inspection in 2013, when it was also judged Good.

Academically, Holy Family’s Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 academic year show a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined was 55%, slightly below the Sefton local authority average of 59%. In individual subjects, 71% met the expected standard in maths and writing, while 65% did so in reading. The school’s average scaled scores were 102 in maths and 103 in reading, both close to the national benchmark of 100. However, the proportion achieving the higher standard was low: just 3% in reading, writing, and maths combined, 10% in maths, and 19% in reading. The school ranks in the bottom 50 nationally for this combined measure, sitting at the 69th percentile. Ofsted’s breakdown from the 2024 inspection rated all areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — as Good, with no outstanding or requires improvement grades.

Holy Family offers a range of facilities including a sports hall, outdoor playground, ICT suite, sensory room, library, and chapel. Sports provision covers cricket, athletics, netball, dance, tennis, and swimming, while clubs include film club, choir, and chess. The school has identified SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties (dyslexia), social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 admissions cycle, the school was oversubscribed: 49 applications were received for 15 places, with all 15 first-preference applicants offered a spot, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.27. This suggests strong local demand, particularly from Catholic families who prioritise the school’s faith-based character. Holy Family will suit parents seeking a small, community-focused primary with consistent Ofsted ratings and a clear religious identity, though those prioritising top-tier academic outcomes may want to compare with higher-ranked local peers.

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