About The School
To read our Welcome Letter from our Chair of Governors, click here.
To read our OFSTED report, click here.
To read our Catholic Schools Inspectorate, click here.
St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School, Canterbury is a thriving Voluntary Aided, one form entry mixed Catholic Primary School with 210 pupils aged between 4 -11 years old. Our school has a strong relationship with our parish, St Thomas of Canterbury RC Church, and we are supported by our two priests Canon Anthony Charlton and Fr Giovanni Prandini. St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School has been serving the local Catholic community since 1870.
Whilst we have a high proportion of Catholic children, we also have pupils from other faiths who greatly add to the rich diversity of our school family. Adding to this diversity, more than 50% of our children have a stated home language in addition to speaking English, and there are over twenty home languages spoken in St Thomas’. We feel very fortunate to have this multicultural community which greatly enriches our school with our children learning to respect and appreciate other cultures and faiths, preparing them for the world in which we live. As our Mission Statement reads:
"At St. Thomas', we create an atmosphere which is aspirational and where we celebrate our unity in Christ through our diversity”
Pupils, parents, staff, governors and the parish, work together to strive for excellence in all aspects of education, which is evidenced in our test results - located within the Key Information section on our school website. Whilst we strive for excellence, we are proud that our children develop into motivated and confident learners, who are independent, show initiative and are self-disciplined. We recognise that every child is unique and see it as our responsibility to enable our children to achieve their very best in their academic, social, physical and spiritual development.
We received an overall OFSTED grading in April 2023 of ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ in Behaviour and Attitudes. See below for a range of statements in the report conveying the culture of the school:
“One parent’s comment summed up the views of many, ‘The school has allowed my child to grow and blossom.’
“Leaders have created a culture where nurture, compassion and respect are intrinsic to school life.”
“Governors understand the school well and give good support to leaders. Staff are proud to work here. They are dedicated and committed to the pupils.”
The Catholic Schools Inspectorate (CSI) inspection in November 2024 gave an overall rating of ‘Good’ with Catholic Life & Mission and Collective Worship both ‘Outstanding’.