St Joachim's Catholic Primary School

About St Joachim's Catholic Primary School

St Joachim's Catholic Primary School in Newham holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2021, a step down from the Outstanding grade it received in 2007. The inspection report highlights personal development as Outstanding, while quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, early years provision, and leadership and management are all rated Good. The school's most telling exam metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which stands at 57 per cent. That places the school 55th out of 61 primary schools in Newham, putting it in the bottom half of the local authority. For context, the Newham average for this combined measure is 74 per cent, so St Joachim's sits well below that benchmark. The school ranks in the bottom 50 nationally by this metric, at the 64th percentile.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, individual subject scores tell a mixed story. In reading, 73 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard, with an average score of 105, and 27 per cent achieved the higher standard. Writing saw 80 per cent at expected and 33 per cent at the higher level. Maths results were lower: 63 per cent at expected, with an average score of 105, and 37 per cent reaching the higher threshold. Only 17 per cent of pupils hit the higher standard across all three subjects combined. The school does not publish progress scores for reading, writing or maths, so it is not possible to compare how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. The overall picture is of a school where writing outcomes are strongest, while maths and the combined measure lag notably behind the local authority average.

St Joachim's is a three-form entry primary with a nursery, and it is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 74 applications for 30 places, a ratio of 2.47 applicants per place, with 25 first-preference offers made. The school serves a diverse community, with 33.4 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals. Facilities include a sensory room, chapel, art studios, music rooms, an ICT suite, and both indoor and outdoor sports spaces. The school offers clubs in chess, coding and book club, and sports include athletics, gymnastics, cricket and tennis. SEND provision covers moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families prioritising a Catholic primary with strong personal development and a Good Ofsted rating, St Joachim's is a popular local choice, though its academic outcomes are below the Newham average and it faces competition from nearby Outstanding schools like Rosetta Primary, just half a kilometre away.

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