St Francis de Sales RC Junior School

About St Francis de Sales RC Junior School

St Francis de Sales RC Junior School is a state-funded Roman Catholic primary in Haringey, and its intake tells a story of a school serving a community with significant need. The school is oversubscribed in terms of its physical capacity: it currently has 266 pupils on roll against a stated capacity of 240, suggesting strong local demand for places. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 42.9%, which is notably high compared with the national average for primary schools and indicates that the school draws from a catchment area with above-average levels of economic disadvantage. As a junior school, it takes children from age 7 to 11, and its religious character as a Roman Catholic school will be a key factor for many families considering it. The headteacher is James Lane, who leads a mixed-gender school in the London borough of Haringey.

Academically, the school’s most recent Key Stage 2 results from the 2023/24 academic year show a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined was 51%, which falls below the Haringey local authority average of 69%. This places the school 45th out of 51 primary schools in the borough, putting it in the bottom half of local schools. However, individual subject scores are stronger: 72% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, and 70% did so in writing, while maths was lower at 65%. The average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 101 in maths. The school’s most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2016 rated it Good overall, with leadership and management judged Outstanding. A subsequent ungraded inspection in 2021 confirmed the school remains Good, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2014.

For families considering this school, the facilities and wider provision offer some notable positives. The school has a Forest School, a sensory room, a chapel, an ICT suite, a library and playing fields, and runs a range of clubs including science, drama, book club, gardening and film club. Sports on offer include football, tennis, dance, gymnastics and athletics. The school’s SEND provisions are relatively broad, covering moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. Given its high FSM rate and oversubscription, this is a school that serves a diverse and disadvantaged community, and families who value a Catholic ethos and a school that has shown clear improvement from Requires Improvement to Good will find it a solid local option. Those prioritising top academic outcomes may wish to look at higher-ranked peers in the borough, such as Lift Trinity or Rhodes Avenue Primary School.

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