Croftlands Junior School

Croftlands Junior School is a warm, inclusive school where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from strong pastoral care and a broad personal development offer. Inspectors found the curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing to be at the expected standard, with safeguarding standards met. Leaders, governors and staff know pupils well, work closely with families and external agencies, and have prioritised reading, writing and mathematics. Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils is a notable strength, and pupils enjoy a wide range of enrichment, leadership roles and community activities. The school has recently federated with the local infant school following leadership changes, and it is a smaller-than-average junior school with an above-average proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans. However, achievement and attendance need attention. Over time, pupils’ attainment in national tests in reading, writing and mathematics has been below national expectations, and gaps in knowledge have made learning harder across other subjects and left pupils less well prepared for secondary education. Writing is a particular weakness, and teachers are not consistently precise in identifying and addressing errors and misconceptions in pupils’ written work. Attendance has also been below national levels and has declined over time, although leaders have strengthened procedures and persistent absence improved in 2024/25. Mathematics is improving more rapidly, with attainment now close to national averages, and current pupils, including those with SEND, are making positive progress from their starting points. The school’s next steps are to ensure a consistent and precise approach to assessment and correction of misconceptions, continue improving attainment across the curriculum, and build further on work to reduce persistent absence. Overall, this is a school with a strong caring and inclusive culture and effective leadership, but it must secure better academic outcomes and more consistent attendance so that pupils are fully prepared for the next stage of their education.

Strengths

• Clear and broad curriculum with logically sequenced knowledge across subjects
• Staff have secure subject knowledge and ask pertinent questions to check learning
• Reading, writing and mathematics are prioritised, including a whole-school focus on spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Targeted and effective support helps pupils who have not secured early reading and phonics skills
• Teaching is well adapted to pupils’ diverse additional needs, including SEND
• Inclusion is strong, with quick and accurate identification of barriers to learning and wellbeing
• Staff work closely with parents, carers and external agencies to support disadvantaged pupils
• Family learning provision has had a purposeful impact for many pupils and families
• Leaders use pupil premium funding with pupils’ academic and emotional needs in mind
• Alternative provision for a small number of pupils is appropriate, safe and carefully matched to needs
• Leaders are ambitious, have a clear improvement vision, and check that actions have the intended impact
• Leaders consider staff wellbeing and workload when introducing new approaches
• Staff value the care, support and professional development they receive from leaders
• Governors take statutory responsibilities seriously and provide appropriate support and challenge
• Personal development is tailored to the school context, including online safety, relationships and health education
• Pastoral support is highly effective, helping pupils manage feelings and behaviour
• Pupils show genuine respect for others and learn about different faiths, cultures and perspectives
• Pupils take on leadership roles and learn about democracy and fundamental British values
• A wide enrichment offer includes clubs, trips and residential visits, with disadvantaged pupils participating fully
• Community activities help pupils understand their role as active citizens
• The school has a culture of inclusion, nurture, respect, compassion and kindness
• Pupils behave sensibly, feel safe and are happy, and bullying is not tolerated
• Mathematics has improved more rapidly, with attainment now close to national averages

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils’ attainment in national tests in reading, writing and mathematics has remained below national expectations over time
• Gaps in pupils’ knowledge make learning harder across other subjects
• Pupils are not as well prepared for secondary education as they should be
• Teachers are inconsistent in identifying and addressing errors and misconceptions in pupils’ written work
• Writing attainment is below national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils
• Whole-school attendance is below national levels and has declined over time
• Persistent absence remains a concern, although it improved in 2024/25
• Some curriculum and teaching changes are still in the early stages
• Disadvantaged pupils’ combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment remains well below national non-disadvantaged pupils
• Some pupils miss important learning and social interaction because they do not attend school often enough

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 Croftlands Junior School attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.6% 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 Croftlands 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 Croftlands Junior School had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.5% 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, 18.4% of pupils at Croftlands Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 Croftlands Junior School received £7,832 and spent £8,170 for each of its 152 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £125,000 (-£819 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 Ulverston · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

What is Croftlands Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Croftlands Junior School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Croftlands Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Croftlands Junior School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Croftlands Junior School have?

Croftlands Junior School has 152 pupils on roll.

What age range does Croftlands Junior School cover?

Croftlands Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Croftlands Junior School?

Croftlands Junior School is at Oakwood Drive, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 9JU.