St Stephen's Catholic Primary School

About St Stephen's Catholic Primary School

St Stephen's Catholic Primary School sits within the Warrington local authority, where it ranks 17th out of 55 primary schools — placing it comfortably in the top third of its peers. Among the highest-scoring schools nearby are Bruche Primary School Academy, Stretton St Matthew's CofE Primary School, and Chapelford Village Primary School, all of which outrank it on the same KS2 metric. The school is one of six primaries in Warrington currently rated Outstanding by Ofsted, though St Stephen's itself holds a Good rating from its most recent inspection in 2023. Its nearest Outstanding-rated school is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, about 3.2 km away. With a capacity of 210 and 204 pupils on roll, the school is nearly full, and oversubscription is high: for the 2025/26 intake, 52 applications were received for just 24 places, with 23 offers going to first-preference families. The headteacher, Steven Hatton, leads a Roman Catholic state primary that serves a mixed-gender cohort aged 4 to 11.

Academically, St Stephen's performs above the Warrington average. In the 2023/24 KS2 assessments, 77% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined, compared with the local authority average of 69%. Reading and maths both produced average scores of 106, and 83% of pupils met the expected standard in each subject individually. Writing saw 80% reach the expected level. At the higher standard, 33% achieved in maths and 20% in reading, though no pupils reached the higher threshold in writing or across all three subjects. The school's Ofsted inspection in October 2023 rated it Good across every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This represents a downgrade from its previous inspection in 2009, when it was judged Outstanding overall, with leadership and management also rated Outstanding at that time.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a sports hall, playing fields, an outdoor playground, a forest school area, a sensory room, art studios, and a chapel. Sports provision covers dance, gymnastics, cross country, football, and cricket, while clubs include chess, art, drama, eco club, and book club. SEND support is broad, covering specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and other difficulties. With no nursery or sixth form, the school focuses entirely on primary-age children. Given its strong local ranking, above-average KS2 outcomes, and high oversubscription rate, St Stephen's is a popular choice for Catholic families in Warrington who want a faith-based primary with good academic results and a wide range of extracurricular activities.

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