St Nicholas Catholic Primary School (Birmingham)

Infobox UK school
name = Saint Nicholas Catholic Primary School


size =
latitude =
longitude =
dms =
motto =
motto_pl =
established = 1967
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Primary, voluntary aided
religion = Roman Catholic
president =
head_label = Acting Head Teacher
head = Mrs. Anna McGuire
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair = Mrs. Patricia Pratt
founder =
founder_pl =
specialist =
street = Jockey Road
city = Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham
county = West Midlands
country = England
postcode = B73 5US
LEA = Birmingham
ofsted = 103475
staff = 11
enrollment = 210
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 5
upper_age = 11
houses =
colours = Blue and Yellow
publication =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.stnicholassutton.org.uk/
website_name = School website

St. Nicholas Catholic Primary School is a voluntary aided Catholic primary school located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. There are currently about 210 students. The school is oversubscribed and has exceptional academic standards.

It opened in 1967 after the demand for Catholic Education within Boldmere and New Oscott became too great. The school is located at the rear of St Nicholas' church, which was constructed in 1957. The acting head teacher is Mrs Anna McGuire. [cite web| url=http://www.stnicholassutton.org.uk/ |title=Welcome to Our Site |publisher=St Nicholas Catholic Primary School |accessdate=2007-12-08] St Nicholas is a Member of the Catholic Partnership. [cite web| url=http://www.catholicpartnership.com/ |title=Birmingham's Catholic Partnership Website |accessdate=2007-12-08]

Academic standards

Following their inspection in March 2006 Ofsted assessed the school as "Outstanding", the highest available category. They said:"This is an outstanding school where pupils are extremely well cared for and achieve very highly ... when they leave school at eleven they consistently reach exceptionally high standards. All groups of pupils make outstanding progress because teaching is consistently at least good, and often exemplary."cite web| url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/pdf/?inspectionNumber=276931&providerCategoryID=4096&fileName=\school\103\s5_103475_20060404.pdf |title=St Nicholas Catholic Primary School |publisher=Ofsted |date=2006-04-04 |accessdate=2008-03-27] [cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-144923180.html |title=School gets good report; Sutton Coldfield: Primary is judged 'outstanding' |author=Tony Collins |publisher=Birmingham Mail |date=2006-04-25 |accessdate=2008-03-27]

The school was described as the best primary school in Birmingham in December 2004.cite web| url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-125619686.html |title=Tests just 'snapshot' |publisher=Birmingham Post |date=2004-12-02 |accessdate=2008-03-27]

In the Key Stage 2 tests in English, maths and science St Nicholas scored a perfect 300 in 2001 [cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-80556904.html |title=Inner-city schools are fighting back |publisher=Birmingham Post |date=2001-12-05 |accessdate=2008-03-27] and was ranked the best school in the Midlands. [cite web| url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-80556915.html |title=School Performance Tables: Dedication led to `perfect' score of Midlands' |publisher=Birmingham Post |date=2001-12-05 |accessdate=2008-03-27]

The school has a notably low rate of absenteeism. At 2.7% authorised absences are about half the local and national average whilst there were no recorded unauthorised absences. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/07/school_tables/primary_schools/html/330_3403.stm |title=St Nicholas Catholic Primary School - League Tables |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-12-06 |accessdate=2008-03-27]

Controversy

The then Headteacher Margaret McConnell caused controversy when she said, in December 2004, that school performance tables were just a snapshot of one day and that "it is more important that you are educating the whole child ... their attitude to other people in the community. It is preparing them for the wider world."

References

External links

* [http://www.stnicholassutton.org.uk/ Official site]