St Oswald's CofE Primary School

St Oswald’s CofE Primary School is a small, caring Church of England primary where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from a strong personal-development offer. Safeguarding standards are met, and attendance and behaviour are secure: leaders have high expectations, act promptly on concerns, and pupils are calm, respectful and eager to learn. Pupils enjoy enrichment such as singing, sports, outdoor activities and leadership roles, and early reading is prioritised with well-targeted support. The main concerns are around pupils’ achievement and the quality of curriculum implementation. Too few pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, reach the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6, and there are gaps in how knowledge is built and retained over time. Teaching does not consistently check understanding, address errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling, or adapt learning routinely for pupils with SEND. The early years curriculum is not well sequenced, so some children, including two-year-olds, do not get the language and knowledge they need to be ready for Year 1. Leadership and governance are not yet giving the school a precise enough grip on performance. Leaders know the school’s priorities and are committed to improvement, but their plans lack clarity and training has not consistently improved teaching. Governors are supportive but do not have an accurate picture of outcomes, including for disadvantaged pupils, which limits their ability to hold leaders to account. Many changes are recent and have not yet had time to show impact; the report identifies clear next steps around curriculum adaptation, knowledge-building, closing gaps in writing and refining early years.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are identified, acted on and managed.
• Pupils feel safe, behave calmly and respectfully, and bullying or discriminatory behaviour is rare and not tolerated.
• Leaders promote high attendance, act promptly on concerns and work with families to support regular attendance.
• Pupils settle quickly in lessons and are eager to learn.
• Pupils develop a clear sense of right and wrong and respect people from different backgrounds, beliefs and family structures.
• The personal development programme, including relationships, health and online safety education, is effective and age-appropriate.
• Pupils benefit from wide enrichment, including singing, sports, outdoor activities, cooking, gardening and visits.
• Pupils take on leadership roles, such as ambassadors, sports leaders and school council representatives.
• Early reading is prioritised, with well-targeted support for pupils who need help to keep up.
• Staff know pupils well, relationships are warm, and pupils feel welcomed and a sense of belonging.
• Leaders are considerate of staff wellbeing and workload, and staff value the support they receive.
• Some pupils with additional needs and some facing disadvantage make steady progress from their starting points.
• Alternative provision placements are checked to ensure they are appropriate and meet individual needs.

Areas for Improvement

• Too few pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, meet the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by Year 6.
• Pupils’ achievement in national tests varies, with gaps in how they build and retain key knowledge.
• Pupils do not consistently complete activities that build their knowledge over time or connect new learning to prior knowledge.
• Teachers sometimes do not explain new information clearly or check whether pupils have understood.
• Errors in pupils’ written work, including grammar, punctuation and spelling, are not routinely identified and corrected.
• Teachers do not consistently adapt learning for pupils with SEND, including those with EHC plans, so some do not get the help they need.
• Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is not used precisely enough, and support is not well enough defined or checked, so gaps persist.
• The wider curriculum sometimes leaves pupils remembering activities but not key concepts, vocabulary or skills.
• The early years curriculum is not clearly sequenced, including for two-year-olds, so adults do not consistently plan activities matched to what children need to learn.
• Early years assessment information is not used routinely to plan each child’s next steps.
• Adults miss opportunities to develop children’s language and vocabulary, leaving some children less ready for Year 1.
• Leaders do not know precisely how well the school is performing, and improvement plans lack clear intended outcomes.
• Governors do not have an accurate picture of pupils’ achievement, disadvantaged pupils’ progress or writing performance over time, limiting challenge to leaders.
• Staff training has not consistently led to improvements in teaching across the school.
• Leaders’ recent curriculum changes are at an early stage and their impact is not yet evident.

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 St Oswald's CofE Primary School attended 94.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.2% 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 St Oswald's CofE 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 St Oswald's CofE Primary School had 16.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 4.5% of pupils at St Oswald's CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.5% 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 St Oswald's CofE Primary School received £9,070 and spent £9,368 for each of its 87 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £26,000 (£302 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 Kendal · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

What is St Oswald's CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Oswald's CofE Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was St Oswald's CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Oswald's CofE Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does St Oswald's CofE Primary School have?

St Oswald's CofE Primary School has 88 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Oswald's CofE Primary School cover?

St Oswald's CofE Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are St Oswald's CofE Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 44% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Oswald's CofE Primary School?

St Oswald's CofE Primary School is at Howgill Close, Burneside, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 6QR.