Silloth Primary School

Silloth Primary School is a small primary that has experienced significant leadership and staffing change; the inspection was carried out while an acting headteacher was in post. Safeguarding requirements are met, and pupils say they feel safe, cared for and part of a close school family. The school is meeting expectations for attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing: pupils attend regularly, behave well, receive strong inclusion support, and benefit from a broad enrichment offer. The early years provision is calm, well sequenced and effective in getting children ready for key stage 1. However, achievement and the quality of curriculum and teaching need attention. Basic knowledge in handwriting, spelling, grammar and number facts is not securely embedded, pupils do not always remember prior learning, and published outcomes in reading and writing have declined. Mathematics and multiplication-check attainment are inconsistent. Teaching varies across the school; staff do not always check whether earlier learning is secure or correct repeated errors, so some pupils move on before they are ready. Leadership has identified the right priorities and steadied the school through change, but curriculum improvements are not happening quickly enough, and leaders' and governors' monitoring of curriculum impact is not precise enough. The next steps focus on refining teaching so it improves achievement and published outcomes, making sure gaps in essential knowledge are addressed before pupils move on, and strengthening monitoring systems. Recent work in phonics, science, geography and older pupils' mathematics and writing shows promise, but these improvements are not yet consistent across the school.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe and know staff will deal with unkind behaviour or bullying.
• Pupils behave well, are polite and respectful, and classrooms and corridors are calm and orderly.
• Attendance is in line with national figures, and persistent absence has fallen below national averages.
• Leaders monitor attendance closely and work well with families and external professionals.
• The early years provision is calm, supportive and well sequenced, with children ready to learn.
• Phonics is taught effectively, and children practise reading with books matched to their age and stage.
• Inclusion is a whole-school priority, with well-matched support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils with additional needs receive precise next steps and benefit from specialist spaces such as the rainbow room and the workshop.
• Personal development is coherent and thoughtful, covering safety, healthy relationships, diversity and democracy.
• Pupils access a broad enrichment offer, including sports, music, drama, science, trips, clubs and community activities.
• Leaders have maintained stability and acted quickly to improve early years, attendance, behaviour and inclusion during a period of change.
• Staff feel valued and supported, and governors fulfil their statutory duties and work closely with leaders and the local authority.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is not secure in some key areas, including handwriting, spelling, grammar and number facts.
• Pupils sometimes struggle to remember prior learning across subjects.
• Published outcomes for reading and writing have declined recently.
• Attainment in mathematics and the multiplication check is inconsistent.
• Teaching of the curriculum is inconsistent across the school.
• Staff do not always check carefully whether earlier learning is secure before moving on.
• Repeated errors in handwriting, spelling and number facts are not consistently picked up or given enough practice.
• Early writing routines vary, and younger pupils do not always embed taught writing skills.
• In some subjects, key ideas are not explained in a way that helps pupils remember and connect new learning.
• Improvements in some curriculum areas are not happening quickly enough.
• Leaders' checks on the curriculum vary in quality and do not consistently give a clear picture of provision.
• Governors' checks on curriculum impact are not precise enough.
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes fell well below national in 2024/25, with a wide disadvantage gap.

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 Silloth Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.0% 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, 0.6% of pupils at Silloth Primary 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 Silloth Primary School had 24.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.2% 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, 12.4% of pupils at Silloth Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% 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 Silloth Primary School received £6,690 and spent £7,682 for each of its 171 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £316,000 (-£1,849 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).

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

What is Silloth Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Silloth Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Silloth Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Silloth Primary School have?

Silloth Primary School has 185 pupils on roll.

What age range does Silloth Primary School cover?

Silloth Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Silloth Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Silloth Primary School?

Silloth Primary School is at Liddel Street, Silloth, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 4DR.