St Helen's Catholic Junior School
Sawyers Hall Lane, Brentwood, CM15 9BY
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST HELEN'S CATHOLIC JUNIOR SCHOOL ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mr L Daley
- Diocese
- Diocese of Brentwood
- Constituency
- Brentwood and Ongar
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 338
- Pupils on roll
- 344
- URN
- 136977
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01277213962
About this school
St Helen's Catholic Junior School is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Brentwood. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 344 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Helen's Catholic Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 20 September 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 95 | 92 | 92 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 74% | 84% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 18% | 21% | 27% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 93% | 88% |
| Expected standard in maths | 87% | 89% | 87% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 90% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 108.0 | 108.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 107.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.00 | - | - |
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 Helen's Catholic Junior 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 | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 74% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 84% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 354 |
| 2023/24 | 364 |
| 2024/25 | 363 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Helen's Catholic Junior School compares
St Helen's Catholic Junior School ranked 56th of 388 primary schools in Essex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 4% | 13% | 344 | — |
| St Helen's Catholic Infant & Nursery School | — | 3.6% | 10.2% | 173 | 0.0 miles |
| St Thomas of Canterbury Church of England Aided Primary School, Brentwood | 69% | 5.7% | 22.8% | 510 | 0.2 miles |
| Shenfield St. Mary's Church of England Primary School | 93% | 3% | 1.7% | 420 | 0.7 miles |
| Larchwood Primary School | 66% | 5.2% | 20.1% | 420 | 0.8 miles |
| Hogarth Primary School | 65% | 6.7% | 25.6% | 211 | 1.0 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 12.95%
- English as an additional language
- 14.3%
- Overall absence
- 4.04%
- Persistent absence
- 9.41%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Helen's Catholic Infant & Nursery School0.0 miles
Primary · Brentwood
-
St Thomas of Canterbury Church of England Aided Primary School, Brentwood0.2 miles
Primary · Brentwood
-
Shenfield St. Mary's Church of England Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Brentwood
-
Larchwood Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Brentwood
-
Hogarth Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Brentwood
Other schools in Brentwood
St Helen's Catholic Junior School ranks 4th of the 17 ranked primary schools in Brentwood.
- Bentley St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Doddinghurst Church of England Junior School Primary
- Doddinghurst Infant School Primary
- Hogarth Primary School Primary
- Holly Trees Primary School Primary
- Hutton All Saints' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ingrave Johnstone Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School Primary
- Larchwood Primary School Primary
- Long Ridings Primary School Primary
- Mountnessing Church of England Primary School Primary
- Shenfield St. Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Helen's Catholic Junior School teach?
- St Helen's Catholic Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Brentwood.
- Who is the headteacher of St Helen's Catholic Junior School?
- The headteacher of St Helen's Catholic Junior School is Mr L Daley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Helen's Catholic Junior School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Helen's Catholic Junior 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 many pupils are at St Helen's Catholic Junior School?
- St Helen's Catholic Junior School has 344 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is St Helen's Catholic Junior School full?
- St Helen's Catholic Junior School has capacity for 338 pupils and 344 on roll (102%), so it is at or above 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 Helen's Catholic Junior School a faith school?
- Yes. St Helen's Catholic Junior School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Brentwood.
- Does St Helen's Catholic Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Helen's Catholic Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- Is St Helen's Catholic Junior School part of an academy trust?
- St Helen's Catholic Junior School is part of ST HELEN'S CATHOLIC JUNIOR SCHOOL ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Helen's Catholic Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 74% in 2022/23 and 78% 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 Helen's Catholic Junior School compare with other schools in Essex?
- St Helen's Catholic Junior School ranked 56th of 388 primary schools in Essex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% 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 Helen's Catholic Junior School's absence rate?
- St Helen's Catholic Junior School's overall absence rate is 4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Helen's Catholic Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Helen's Catholic Junior 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 1 July 2026.