St Winifred's RC Primary School

About St Winifred's RC Primary School

St Winifred's RC Primary School sits comfortably above the Lewisham local authority average for primary schools when it comes to Key Stage 2 outcomes. The LA average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined sits at 64%, while St Winifred's achieves 69%. That puts the school 20th out of 67 primary schools in the borough, placing it in the top third locally. It also ranks within the top 50% nationally, which is a solid showing for a state primary. The school's reading scores are particularly strong: 79% of pupils hit the expected standard and 44% reached the higher standard, well above the national picture. Maths is more mixed — 69% at expected and 31% at higher — but the average maths score of 106 is still respectable. Reading averages 108. The school is oversubscribed, with 121 applications for 53 places in the 2025/26 intake, and 41 of those offers went to first-preference families, suggesting strong local demand.

Ofsted last inspected St Winifred's in a graded visit in 2018, awarding it Good overall, with Good for leadership and management and Good for early years provision. A more recent ungraded inspection in 2024 confirmed the school remains Good. The parent view snapshot, based on ten responses between September 2024 and September 2025, is broadly positive: 90% would recommend the school. Strong majorities agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy (90%), feels safe (90%), and does well (100%). However, there are some weaker spots — only 40% agreed that concerns are dealt with properly, and 30% disagreed. Behaviour management also drew a mixed response: 80% agreed pupils are well behaved, but 20% disagreed. The school's SEND provision data is thin — no parents responded to the SEND support question — but the school does list provisions for dyslexia, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and social and emotional mental health.

The school is a Roman Catholic primary with a nursery, serving children from age 3 to 11. Facilities include a library, playing fields, a forest school, art studios, a sports hall, gymnasium, sensory room, outdoor playground and a chapel. Clubs range from coding and chess to gardening and film club, and sports on offer include cricket, swimming, netball and athletics. With 383 pupils against a capacity of 420, the school is near full but not bursting. The oversubscription ratio of 2.28 means competition for places is real, particularly for Catholic families who may have priority. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Brindishe Manor School, 0.6 km away, so St Winifred's is a strong Good option in a competitive Lewisham market. It will suit families who value a faith-based setting with above-average academic outcomes and a wide range of enrichment activities, but who are comfortable with a school where some parent feedback on pastoral handling is less glowing.

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