Orton CofE School

Orton CofE School is a small Church of England village school with 53 pupils and mixed-age classes. It provides a positive, caring and calm environment, and safeguarding standards are met. Attendance is high and improving, with no persistently absent pupils, and behaviour is excellent: pupils are polite, respectful, caring and inclusive. Pupils feel safe and are well supported, including those with SEND and those facing disadvantage. Overall, the school is performing securely and meeting expectations, with attendance and behaviour standing out as particular strengths. The curriculum is broad, balanced and adapted for mixed-age classes, and teaching of phonics, reading and mathematics is generally effective. Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment, leadership opportunities and wellbeing support. Governance is effective, staff feel supported, and leaders have a clear understanding of the school's context. Published data is of limited value because cohorts are very small, but pupils generally achieve well from their starting points. There are some areas for improvement. Early years provision is not consistently sequenced, so some activities do not focus on the skills children need most, and a few pupils are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they could be. Handwriting and transcription are inconsistent across the curriculum. Pupils' understanding of fundamental British values is not yet consistently secure or detailed. These are the main next steps for leaders.

Strengths

• High and improving attendance, with no persistently absent pupils.
• Excellent behaviour; pupils are polite, respectful, caring and resolve disagreements fairly.
• Pupils feel safe in a calm, purposeful environment and know staff keep them safe.
• Pupils generally achieve well, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Broad and balanced curriculum, effectively sequenced and adapted for mixed-age classes.
• Effective phonics, reading and mathematics teaching, with pupils becoming fluent readers.
• Strong inclusion systems and effective use of additional funding to reduce barriers.
• Positive early years start with secure relationships and a strong focus on language.
• Effective leadership and governance, with clear priorities and appropriate support and challenge.
• Wide enrichment, pupil leadership and wellbeing support that develop resilience and citizenship.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years curriculum is not consistently sequenced, so some activities do not focus on the skills children need most and a few pupils are less ready for Year 1.
• Handwriting and transcription remain inconsistent across the curriculum, with letter-formation errors persisting in some pupils' work.
• Pupils' understanding of fundamental British values is not consistently secure or detailed.

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 Orton CofE School attended 97.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.4% 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 Orton CofE 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 Orton CofE School had 11.3 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, 23.4% of pupils at Orton CofE School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.1% 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 Orton CofE School received £11,582 and spent £11,278 for each of its 47 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £61,000 (£1,300 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 Penrith · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

What is Orton CofE School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Orton CofE School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Orton CofE School last inspected by Ofsted?

Orton CofE School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Orton CofE School have?

Orton CofE School has 47 pupils on roll.

What age range does Orton CofE School cover?

Orton CofE School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Orton CofE School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Orton CofE School?

Orton CofE School is at Orton, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3RG.