Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a welcoming and harmonious school where pupils feel safe, cared for and happy. Inspectors found strong relationships, kind and respectful behaviour, and high aspirations for pupils’ achievement. Pupils achieve well, are positive about learning, and are well prepared for the next stage of their education. The school provides a broad and ambitious curriculum and enriches pupils’ experience through trips, outdoor learning and a wide range of personal development opportunities. The school was judged good in all inspected areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Safeguarding is effective. Reading is a priority, pupils’ additional needs, including SEND, are identified quickly, and staff generally support pupils well. Pupils behave well, attendance is a high priority, and staff are happy and proud to work at the school. Governors support the school well. There are two main areas for improvement. Occasionally, learning activities are not matched closely enough to the knowledge the school has identified, meaning some pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not learn key curriculum content as well as they could. In a few subjects, assessment approaches are still developing, so teachers do not always identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge. This inspection took place after a new headteacher started in September 2024 and was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and are well cared for in a welcoming school.
• Relationships between staff and pupils are strong, and pupils are kind and respectful.
• The school has high aspirations and pupils achieve well.
• The ambitious curriculum builds logically from early years to Year 6.
• Reading is a priority, and staff act swiftly to help pupils who find reading difficult.
• Pupils’ additional needs, including SEND, are identified quickly and generally well supported.
• Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school.
• The school provides high-quality opportunities that nurture pupils’ personal development.
• Attendance is a high priority, with effective support for families.
• Staff are happy and proud to work at the school, and governors support it well.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• On occasion, learning activities are not matched sufficiently well to the knowledge identified for pupils to learn.
• Some pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not learn key curriculum content as well as they could.
• In some subjects, assessment strategies are at an early stage of development.
• The school sometimes does not identify key gaps in pupils’ learning or adapt future teaching to address them.

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 Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.0% 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, 4.0% of pupils at Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School had 22.2 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, 4.0% of pupils at Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% 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 Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School received £7,189 and spent £7,137 for each of its 200 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £116,000 (£582 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 Thornton-Cleveleys · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School have?

Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School has 200 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School cover?

Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School is at Station Road, Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, FY5 5HY.