Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School

Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School is a very small village primary with 23 pupils on roll. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school has a calm, caring culture where pupils behave well, early years provision is a strength, and personal development and inclusion are generally effective. Leaders have built trusting relationships with families, staff know pupils well, and pupils with SEND are identified promptly and supported appropriately. Persistent absence has been significantly reduced, and pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, visits and leadership opportunities. However, academic outcomes and some aspects of teaching and leadership require attention. Over time, pupils have underperformed national averages in reading and grammar, punctuation and spelling, and the combined reading, writing and mathematics measure is below national. Some pupils do not retain or apply knowledge securely across subjects, and teachers do not consistently address errors in older pupils' spelling, handwriting and grammar. Teachers sometimes over-support tasks, and assessment information is not routinely used to adapt teaching. Leadership capacity is also a concern: leaders do not have an accurate view of the school's performance, have not identified grammar, punctuation and spelling as a priority, and governors do not hold them to account with sufficient rigour. The school has begun to improve curriculum planning, especially in phonics and mathematics, and writing and mathematics outcomes have improved over time, but further work is needed to secure stronger achievement for all pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils behave well in a calm, respectful culture with clear routines.
• Staff build caring, trusting relationships and greet pupils warmly.
• Bullying and discriminatory behaviour are rare and are dealt with quickly.
• Early years provision is a strength, with a broad, ambitious curriculum and a strong focus on phonics and reading.
• Children leave early years curious, independent and ready for Year 1.
• Leaders identify pupils' needs, including SEND, accurately and promptly.
• Pupils with SEND make appropriate progress and receive skilled, caring support.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is broad and effective, including clubs, visits and structured health education.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND access the full personal development programme.
• Writing and mathematics outcomes have improved over time.
• Persistent absence has been significantly reduced through focused work with families.
• Leaders collaborate effectively with external professionals, and staff feel valued and committed.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' outcomes in reading and grammar, punctuation and spelling have been below national averages over time.
• The combined reading, writing and mathematics measure is below the national average.
• Some older pupils' errors in spelling, handwriting and grammar are not identified or addressed, limiting fluent writing.
• Some pupils are not as well prepared for the next stage of education as they could be.
• Pupils do not consistently develop secure, detailed knowledge across subjects and struggle to explain what they have learned.
• Teachers do not consistently choose activities that help pupils build knowledge over time and sometimes provide too much help.
• Teachers do not consistently use assessment information to adapt teaching.
• Errors in older pupils' spelling, handwriting and grammar are not routinely identified across subjects.
• Leaders do not have an accurate picture of the school's performance and have not identified grammar, punctuation and spelling as a priority.
• Governors do not hold leaders to account with sufficient rigour on these weaknesses.
• Support for some disadvantaged pupils does not consistently address their barriers to learning.
• Overall attendance remains below the national average.

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 Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.5% 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 Melling St Wilfrid 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 Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School had 8.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 38.5% 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, 13.6% of pupils at Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.5% 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 Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School received £17,642 and spent £18,468 for each of its 22 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £23,000 (£1,043 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 Carnforth · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School have?

Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School has 22 pupils on roll.

What age range does Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School cover?

Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Melling St Wilfrid 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 Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School?

Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School is at Lodge Lane, Melling, Carnforth, Lancashire, LA6 2RE.