St Margaret Mary's Catholic Junior School

About St Margaret Mary's Catholic Junior School

St Margaret Mary's Catholic Junior School in Knowsley has been rated Good by Ofsted in its most recent inspection, a rating it has held consistently across its last two graded inspections. The school’s strongest academic story lies in its Key Stage 2 results: 72% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is notably above the local authority average of 60%. This places the school 8th out of 47 primary schools in Knowsley, putting it in the top 20% of the borough. The school also performs well in individual subjects, with 85% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading and 84% in maths. At the higher standard, 13% of pupils achieved the top marks across all three subjects, while 38% did so in reading alone. These figures suggest a school that is reliably delivering above-average outcomes for its pupils compared with others in the area.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 exam data, the average scaled scores were 107 in reading and 106 in maths, both comfortably above the national benchmark of 100. The school’s overall ranking score of 72 places it in the top 50 nationally, and within the North West it sits in the 24th percentile among over 2,000 primary schools. Ofsted’s 2024 ungraded inspection confirmed the school remains Good, with leadership and management also judged Good. The school has a relatively large roll of 465 pupils, close to its capacity of 480, and a significant proportion — 36.8% — are eligible for free school meals, which is well above the national average. This context makes the above-average attainment particularly noteworthy, as the school is clearly supporting a cohort with higher-than-average levels of disadvantage.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a chapel, music rooms, art studios, a sensory room, a forest school and a sports hall, alongside clubs such as coding, chess and science club. Sports on offer include swimming, athletics, cricket and tennis. SEND provision is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health support. The school is a Roman Catholic junior school for children aged 7 to 11, and it is oversubscribed — its 465 pupils fill 97% of the 480-capacity school. For families prioritising strong academic outcomes within a faith-based setting, and who value a school that outperforms its local authority averages despite higher-than-average deprivation, St Margaret Mary’s is a strong contender in the Knowsley area.

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