St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere

St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School is a small Catholic primary (45 pupils) in the Mater Christi Multi Academy Trust, with a high proportion of pupils who have education, health and care plans and mixed-age classes. Inspectors found that pupils are proud of their school, feel safe, behave impressively and are highly respectful. Personal development and wellbeing are a standout strength, with an effective PSHE curriculum, bespoke emotional support, wide enrichment and strong preparation for life in modern Britain; safeguarding standards are met. Attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and leadership and governance are broadly secure, with leaders knowing families well and using trust and external support effectively. However, achievement and curriculum and teaching require attention. Historical weaknesses in the curriculum, especially in writing, mean some pupils do not secure foundational knowledge, and gaps in writing are not closing quickly enough. Teachers do not always use assessment well enough to address common errors, and recent curriculum improvements are not yet fully embedded, so impact is inconsistent. Persistent absence also remains high, often linked to term-time holidays, although attendance has improved over time. Leaders' improvement actions sometimes lack precision, making it harder to evaluate their impact. Overall, the school has strong pastoral, behavioural and inclusion foundations, but must strengthen curriculum delivery, writing outcomes and attendance to ensure all pupils achieve as well as they can.

Strengths

• Personal development and wellbeing are at the heart of the school's work, supported by an effective PSHE curriculum.
• Bespoke social and emotional support helps pupils overcome challenges and do well.
• Pupils are highly respectful, inclusive and instinctively support one another.
• Pupils have a secure understanding of fundamental British values and contribute positively to the community.
• Leaders provide an extensive, inclusive range of enrichment, visits, sports, music and clubs.
• Careers education and inspirational visitors raise pupils' ambitions.
• Pupils' behaviour is impressive, with effective and consistently applied behaviour systems.
• Bullying and conflict are very rare and dealt with swiftly and fairly.
• The school has created an inclusive culture where pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are fully included.
• Additional funding is used effectively to support pupils' reading and mathematics.
• Leaders work well with external agencies, specialists and local organisations to meet pupils' needs.
• Leaders, trustees and governors understand the school context and fulfil their statutory duties.
• Trust support has increased capacity for improvement in this small school.
• Staff workload and wellbeing are considered, and professional learning is effective.
• The redesigned curriculum is broad, ambitious and logically sequenced, and teaching continues to improve.
• Staff use key vocabulary effectively, particularly benefiting pupils at early stages of learning English.
• Pupils with SEND make secure progress from their starting points.
• Attendance has improved over time, supported by close work with the trust and local authority.
• Safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement requires attention: some pupils do not secure foundational knowledge across the curriculum, especially in writing.
• Writing gaps appear across all classes and are not closing quickly enough, limiting how well some pupils express ideas and build knowledge.
• Some pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable, particularly in writing.
• Some pupils are not as well prepared for their next steps in education as they could be.
• Curriculum and teaching require attention because previous curriculum weaknesses left some pupils without essential knowledge.
• Teachers do not always use assessment information well enough to address common errors in writing.
• Recent curriculum improvements are at an early stage and not fully embedded, so consistent impact is not yet evident.
• Some improvement actions lack precision, making it difficult for leaders to evaluate their impact.
• A small number of pupils still miss too much education, often due to term-time holidays.
• Persistent absence remains well above national average.
• Attendance strategies need to continue reducing persistent absence and improve attendance for pupils who miss school most often.

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 St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 30.8% 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 St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere 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 St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere had 13.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.2% 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, 15.0% of pupils at St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.0% 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 2024–25 St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere received £10,248 and spent £10,500 for each of its 46 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £41,000 (£891 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust, income was £8,234 and spending £8,275 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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All schools in Westmorland And Furness · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere is part of Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• Dean Gibson Catholic Primary School, Kendal Kendal
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ulverston Ulverston
• Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, Carnforth Carnforth
• Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness Dalton-In-Furness
• St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow Barrow-In-Furness
• St Pius X Catholic Primary School, Barrow Barrow-In-Furness
• St Catherine's Catholic Primary School, Penrith Penrith
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Barrow Barrow-In-Furness
• St Josephs Catholic Primary School, Lancaster Lancaster
• St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington Workington

What is St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere last inspected by Ofsted?

St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere have?

St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere has 40 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere cover?

St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere for pupils aged 3 to 11.

Where is St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere?

St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere is at Prince's Road, Princes Road, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 2DD.