Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School

Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School is a small, inclusive village school with 73 pupils on roll and a high proportion of pupils with SEND support. Inspectors found a caring, welcoming community where safeguarding is effective, pupils feel safe and happy, and staff know families well. The school meets expected standards for attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and personal development, but achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, and leadership and governance need attention. Strengths include strong pastoral care, good behaviour, and an inclusive approach that helps pupils with SEND access learning. Personal development is broad and well established, with trips, clubs, community projects, and leadership roles. Pupils with SEND make steady progress from their starting points, and recent improvements have raised some outcomes, including the Year 1 phonics check and greater depth writing at the end of Year 6. Governors are committed, staff feel valued, and parents appreciate the school's family feel. However, attainment remains below national averages in reading, writing, and mathematics, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, and some pupils do not develop essential basic skills securely. Teaching is inconsistent, phonics is not taught with enough precision, and assessment is not used well enough to close gaps. Early years leadership is new and oversight is not yet sharp enough, while improvement actions across the school have not been implemented quickly enough. Attendance remains a concern despite some targeted work, and leaders must ensure training, curriculum implementation, and support for disadvantaged pupils lead to consistently better outcomes.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are identified and acted upon.
• Pupils feel safe, happy, and well cared for in a welcoming Church of England school.
• Behaviour is good; pupils understand and follow the '3Rs' and bullying is not a concern.
• Inclusion is at the heart of leaders' work, with strong support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• The personal development programme is broad, inclusive, and builds pupils' knowledge and life skills.
• A wide range of trips, clubs, community projects, and leadership roles enrich pupils' experiences.
• Staff know pupils and families well and provide caring pastoral support.
• Pupils with SEND make steady progress from their starting points.
• Recent improvements have raised outcomes in the Year 1 phonics check and greater depth writing at the end of Year 6.
• Governors are committed, fulfil statutory duties, and provide appropriate challenge.
• Staff feel valued and speak positively about leaders' support for workload and wellbeing.
• Parents are highly appreciative of the school's family feel and SEND support.
• Early years children are happy, settled, and supported in a warm environment.
• The curriculum is ambitious and logically ordered in each subject, with recent improvements in early years, reading, and writing.

Areas for Improvement

• Attainment is below national averages in reading, writing, and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are below national averages, and the disadvantage gap remains wide.
• Some pupils do not consistently develop basic skills in phonics, handwriting, numbers, and shapes.
• Gaps in learning persist as pupils move through the school, leaving some unprepared for the next stage.
• Teaching is inconsistent and does not always establish secure knowledge, including in early reading, writing, and mathematics.
• The phonics programme is not taught with sufficient precision.
• Assessment is not used consistently well to identify and address gaps from prior learning.
• Improvement actions in curriculum and teaching are not implemented swiftly enough.
• Early years leadership is new and senior leaders do not oversee it closely enough.
• Teaching in early years does not consistently bring the curriculum to life, and errors are not always corrected.
• Some children do not acquire essential knowledge in phonics, early writing, and mathematics.
• Leaders' systems do not always provide sharp oversight to evaluate impact and target next steps.
• Professional development has not yet secured consistently effective teaching.
• Attendance actions have not fully secured regular attendance for all pupils.
• Some pupils miss essential learning because of attendance issues.
• Leaders need to improve Key Stage 2 attainment in reading, writing, and mathematics so all pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, are prepared for secondary school.

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 Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.3% 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 Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England 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 Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School had 15.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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, 31.6% of pupils at Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% 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 Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School received £8,441 and spent £10,061 for each of its 79 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £66,000 (-£836 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 Ormskirk · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School have?

Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School has 79 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School cover?

Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School?

Ormskirk Lathom Park Church of England Primary School is at Hall Lane, Lathom, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L40 5UG.