St Helen’s Roman Catholic Junior School is situated in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan which is the Local Authority (LA). Pupils generally come from homes which are neither advantaged nor disadvantaged. Many live locally although the school serves a wider area. About 18% of pupils are entitled to free school meals which is above the local average and close to the national average. There are 185 pupils on roll between the ages of eight and eleven years. Many pupils come from English speaking homes and a few have English as an additional language (EAL). Of these about half receive support in EAL. No pupil has Welsh as the language of the home. Five pupils have statements of special educational needs (SEN) and no pupil has the National Curriculum (NC) disapplied. Twenty one per cent of pupils in the school are identified as having some degree of Additional Learning Needs (ALN). One pupil was excluded in the previous school year and one pupil is looked after by the LA. During the inspection two members of the permanent teaching staff were absent, one due to long-term ill health and the other as a result of maternity leave. The school holds Green Flag status, the BECTA Award for information and communications technology (ICT), the International School Award of the British Council and the Healthy Schools Award. The 2010/2011 individual school budget per pupil for St Helen’s RC Primary School is £3,359 which compares with a maximum of £4,491 and a minimum of £2,756 for primary school in the Vale of Glamorgan. The school has the 29th highest budget per pupil out of the 46 primary schools in the Vale of Glamorgan.