Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School

Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School is a good school overall, with pupils who enjoy attending, behave well and achieve across a range of subjects. The report highlights exceptionally strong pastoral support and broader personal development, including a wide range of clubs, trips, music and enterprise activities that are carefully planned to nurture pupils’ interests and talents. The school is ambitious for pupils and has strengthened support for the growing number of pupils with SEND, working with specialists to identify and meet needs. The curriculum is broad and engaging, and reading is a clear strength: children in Reception quickly gain confidence in phonics, while younger children benefit from a strong focus on communication. Attendance is a priority, and staff provide effective help for pupils who need support managing emotions. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and governors are active in checking the quality of education while considering staff workload. The main areas for improvement are in curriculum precision and assessment. In a few aspects of the curriculum, including early years, essential knowledge is not yet identified or sequenced clearly enough, so some pupils do not build securely on prior learning. In a few subjects, checks on pupils’ learning are not as effective as they could be, meaning gaps are not always identified and activities are not always sharply focused on next steps. This inspection was the school’s first graded inspection since it was exempt as an outstanding school; it had an ungraded inspection in February 2024 and opened a Nursery class in February 2025.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy school and behave well.
• Exceptionally strong pastoral support meets pupils’ emotional and personal needs.
• The school is ambitious for pupils’ achievement and personal development.
• Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects and are prepared for the next stage.
• The curriculum is broad and engaging.
• Reading is fostered well, with strong phonics in Reception and communication support in Nursery.
• Support for pupils with SEND is well targeted and adapted to meet needs.
• Attendance is a high priority, with effective support for families.
• Extra-curricular activities are extensive and carefully planned to reflect pupils’ interests.
• Provision for pupils’ broader development is exceptionally strong.
• Enrichment experiences, trips and community engagement deepen pupils’ learning.
• Pupils develop a strong understanding of fundamental British values and equality.
• Governors assure themselves of the quality of education and consider staff workload.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few aspects of the curriculum, including early years, essential knowledge is not identified or sequenced clearly enough.
• In a few subjects, checks on pupils’ learning are not effective enough to identify and address gaps.
• Some learning activities are not focused sharply enough on pupils’ next learning steps.

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 Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.9% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community 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 Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School had 25.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.2% 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, 10.4% of pupils at Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School received £6,269 and spent £6,213 for each of its 413 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £228,000 (£552 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 Morecambe · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School have?

Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School has 413 pupils on roll.

What age range does Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School cover?

Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 73% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School?

Morecambe and Heysham Torrisholme Community Primary School is at Low Lane, Torrisholme, Morecambe, Lancashire, LA4 6PN.