Thomlinson Junior School

Thomlinson Junior School is a good school across all key judgements. It provides a calm, caring environment where pupils understand and live out values of respect, tolerance, courage and responsibility. Pupils behave well, value positive relationships with staff, and benefit from high expectations and an ambitious, broad curriculum, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities in its specially resourced provision. Reading is central to the school’s work, and strong transition arrangements with the feeder infant school help identify and meet pupils’ needs from the start. Pupils typically achieve well, attend regularly, and enjoy a wide range of enrichment, clubs, performances, residential visits and community activities. The main area for improvement is assessment in some subjects. Checks on learning are not consistently effective at identifying pupils’ misconceptions or whether they are ready to move on to more complex tasks, which can prevent timely adaptation of activities so that learning builds securely and deeply over time. Safeguarding is effective, governance provides effective support and challenge, and staff morale is high. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection. The school has a specially resourced provision for up to nine pupils with severe learning difficulties or profound and multiple learning difficulties. The inspection was a graded inspection, with no overall effectiveness grade awarded.

Strengths

• Calm, caring ethos with embedded values of respect, tolerance, courage and responsibility
• Pupils behave well and support others through peer supporter roles
• Positive relationships between pupils and staff
• Ambitious, broad curriculum designed for all pupils, including those with SEND
• Strong transition processes with the feeder infant school
• Reading is central, with robust systems to identify and close gaps
• Effective phonics programme helps pupils become fluent readers
• Staff deliver the curriculum consistently well with clear explanations
• Pupils typically achieve well across a broad range of subjects
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and work hard
• High attendance and low persistent absence
• Wide extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities, including residential visits
• Pupils contribute to the school and wider community
• Governors provide effective support and challenge
• Staff workload is considered and staff morale is high
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, assessment systems are not used effectively enough to identify what pupils know
• Staff do not consistently identify misconceptions or readiness to move on to more complex tasks
• Curriculum delivery is not always adapted promptly enough to build pupils’ knowledge securely and deeply over time

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Thomlinson Junior School attended 96.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Thomlinson Junior School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Thomlinson Junior School had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.0% of pupils at Thomlinson Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 4 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Thomlinson Junior School received £7,588 and spent £7,686 for each of its 227 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £53,000 (£232 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Wigton · Cumberland local authority: places and applications

What is Thomlinson Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thomlinson Junior School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Thomlinson Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thomlinson Junior School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Thomlinson Junior School have?

Thomlinson Junior School has 227 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thomlinson Junior School cover?

Thomlinson Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Thomlinson Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 46% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Thomlinson Junior School?

Thomlinson Junior School is at The Goose Market, High Street, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 9PG.