St Mark's CofE Primary School

St Mark’s CofE Primary School continues to demonstrate good performance, engaging pupils who are happy and well-behaved. The school's values foster a supportive environment where pupils appreciate kindness and fairness, and staff build warm relationships with them. Leaders have high academic and behavioral expectations, and the curriculum designed from early years to Year 6 is broad and ambitious. Most pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, are achieving well, indicating effective teaching practices and a vibrant learning environment. However, there are areas for improvement, particularly in a few subjects where the curriculum has not been sufficiently broken down into smaller, essential knowledge steps. This has made it challenging for teachers to deliver cohesive learning experiences in these areas. Additionally, some subjects lack effective assessment strategies to ensure pupils are successfully retaining what they learn. These concerns are being addressed by leaders to ensure consistent improvement across all subjects.

Strengths

• Pupils have positive attitudes and feel safe due to effective bullying management.
• The school provides a warm and supportive environment fostering strong relationships.
• Leaders have designed a broad and ambitious curriculum that connects learning across subjects.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs enables their successful learning.
• Reading is prioritized, with initiatives that encourage a love for reading among pupils.
• Pupils engage in meaningful community events, fostering their social responsibility.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, essential knowledge is not broken down into manageable learning steps.
• Some subjects lack effective assessment strategies to measure pupil retention and learning.

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 Mark's CofE Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Mark'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 Mark's CofE Primary School had 20.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.1% 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, 15.2% of pupils at St Mark's CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.4% 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 Mark's CofE Primary School received £7,029 and spent £6,717 for each of its 184 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £2,000 (-£9 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 Westmorland And Furness · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mark's CofE Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2023.

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

St Mark's CofE Primary School was last inspected in April 2023.

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

St Mark's CofE Primary School has 184 pupils on roll.

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

St Mark's CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 79% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mark's CofE Primary School?

St Mark's CofE Primary School is at Oxenholme Lane, Natland, Natland, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 7QH.