Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, Church

About Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, Church

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School in Hyndburn is a state-funded mixed primary for children aged 3 to 11, currently home to 199 pupils against a capacity of 224. That leaves some spare places, but the school is actually oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 41 applications for 22 places, with 21 of those coming as first preferences. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 45.9%, which is notably high — well above the national average for primary schools and likely reflecting the local demographic. The school has a Roman Catholic religious character and is led by headteacher Carolyn Mashiter. It also offers nursery provision, which may be a practical draw for local families with younger children. Despite being oversubscribed, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2025 judged its overall effectiveness as not graded, though the previous inspection in 2023 had rated it Requires Improvement.

Academically, the school's Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 year place it near the bottom of the local authority rankings. Just 26% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with the Lancashire local authority average of 60%. In the Hyndburn area, Sacred Heart ranks 29th out of 31 primary schools on this measure, and nationally it sits in the bottom 2% of all primary schools. Individual subject scores show 46% of pupils met the expected standard in reading and 48% in writing, but maths was lower at 46%. Average scaled scores were 100 for reading and 99 for maths. No progress scores are available. The school's ranking score of 26 places it in the bottom 50 tier nationally. For families prioritising academic outcomes, these figures are a significant consideration.

On the plus side, the school offers a range of facilities including a chapel, library, gymnasium, playing fields and an outdoor playground. Sports on offer include gymnastics, netball, dance, swimming and rounders, and there are clubs such as book club, coding and chess. The school has identified SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. Parent View responses from 18 families show 72% would recommend the school, though there are mixed views on how concerns are handled and how bullying is dealt with. The school is oversubscribed, so applying as a first preference is advisable. Sacred Heart may suit families who value its Catholic character and nursery provision, and who are comfortable with a school that is still working through improvement areas flagged by Ofsted.

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