St John's Catholic Primary School, Poulton-le-Fylde

About St John's Catholic Primary School, Poulton-le-Fylde

St John's Catholic Primary School in Poulton-le-Fylde presents a mixed picture when you compare its headline Key Stage 2 results against the Lancashire local authority average. The school achieved a 70% expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is a solid ten percentage points above the LA average of 60%. That’s a meaningful gap and places the school in the top 50 nationally for this metric. However, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard in all three subjects sits at just 13%, which is modest. The school’s reading and maths average scaled scores both come in at 106, and while maths expected attainment is strong at 87%, writing and reading both sit at 80%. The school ranks 13th out of 35 primary schools in the Wyre local authority area, putting it in the top 40% of its immediate neighbours. So the headline is one of solid, above-average core attainment, but with limited stretch to the highest levels.

The most recent Ofsted inspection in December 2024 judged the school as Requires Improvement overall, though it’s worth noting that the previous inspection in 2013 rated it Outstanding. The breakdown shows a real split: behaviour and attitudes were graded Outstanding, and personal development was Good, but quality of education, early years provision, and leadership and management all received Requires Improvement. This suggests the school has strong foundations in pastoral care and conduct, but academic delivery and leadership need work. Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive — 95% of the 59 respondents would recommend the school, and 99% agreed or strongly agreed that their child feels safe. The school is heavily oversubscribed: for 15 places in the 2025/26 intake, it received 70 applications, a ratio of 4.67 to one, and all 15 first-preference applicants were offered places.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a chapel, sensory room, forest school, music rooms, and a sports hall, plus clubs like science, eco, film and gardening. Sports provision covers football, athletics, cricket, rounders, gymnastics, tennis and swimming. SEND support is available for moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication issues — though the parent view data on SEND support had no responses, so it’s hard to gauge satisfaction in that area. With 205 pupils against a capacity of 210, the school is nearly full, and just 7.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, below the national average. This is a popular Catholic primary that clearly appeals to local families, but the Requires Improvement rating means parents should weigh the strong results and happy parent body against the need for leadership and curriculum improvements flagged by Ofsted.

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