St John Vianney Catholic Primary School
Elton Head Road, Sutton Heath, St Helens, WA9 5BT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Anne-Louise Friar
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- St Helens South and Whiston
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 195
- URN
- 104812
- Local authority
- St. Helens
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01744678570
About this school
St John Vianney Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in St Helens. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 195 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 30 | 28 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 60% | 64% | 80% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 0% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 73% | 71% | 83% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 79% | 100% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 63% | 82% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 106.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 106.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.80 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St John Vianney Catholic Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | St. Helens average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 60% | 60.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 64% | 60.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 80% | 60.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 193 |
| 2023/24 | 196 |
| 2024/25 | 201 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St John Vianney Catholic Primary School compares
St John Vianney Catholic Primary School ranked 4th of 52 primary schools in St. Helens for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 87% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 80% | 5.2% | 25.4% | 195 | — |
| Nutgrove Methodist Primary School | 64% | 4.7% | 18.4% | 194 | 0.6 miles |
| Thatto Heath Community Primary School | 68% | 7% | 49.2% | 631 | 0.6 miles |
| St Austin's Catholic Primary School | 46% | 5.2% | 37% | 216 | 0.7 miles |
| Longton Lane Community Primary School | 61% | 5.2% | 21.9% | 284 | 1.1 miles |
| Eaves Primary School | 79% | 4.9% | 23.6% | 233 | 1.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report6 May 2026
- 22 March 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 25.37%
- English as an additional language
- 7.5%
- Overall absence
- 5.16%
- Persistent absence
- 13.56%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Nutgrove Methodist Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · St Helens
-
Thatto Heath Community Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · St Helens
-
St Austin's Catholic Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · St Helens
-
Longton Lane Community Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · St Helens
-
Eaves Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · St Helens
Other schools in St Helens
St John Vianney Catholic Primary School ranks 1st of the 36 ranked primary schools in St Helens.
- Ashurst Primary School Primary
- Bleak Hill Primary School Primary
- Broad Oak Community Primary School Primary
- Carr Mill Primary School Primary
- Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Primary
- Eaves Primary School Primary
- Eccleston Mere Primary School Primary
- Grange Valley Primary School Primary
- Holy Cross Catholic Primary School Primary
- Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School Primary
- Legh Vale Primary School Primary
- Longton Lane Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St John Vianney Catholic Primary School teach?
- St John Vianney Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in St Helens.
- Who is the headteacher of St John Vianney Catholic Primary School?
- The headteacher of St John Vianney Catholic Primary School is Mrs Anne-Louise Friar, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St John Vianney Catholic Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is St John Vianney Catholic Primary School?
- St John Vianney Catholic Primary School has 195 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St John Vianney Catholic Primary School full?
- St John Vianney Catholic Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 195 on roll (93%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St John Vianney Catholic Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St John Vianney Catholic Primary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Does St John Vianney Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St John Vianney Catholic Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have St John Vianney Catholic Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 60% in 2022/23 and 80% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St John Vianney Catholic Primary School rank locally?
- St John Vianney Catholic Primary School ranked 4th of 52 primary schools in St. Helens for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 87% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St John Vianney Catholic Primary School's absence rate?
- St John Vianney Catholic Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St John Vianney Catholic Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St John Vianney Catholic Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.