Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness

This is a small Roman Catholic primary school in Dalton-in-Furness, inspected in April 2026 for the first time since joining the Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust. Safeguarding standards are met. Inspectors found a warm, inclusive school where pupils feel safe and belong, attendance is high, behaviour is very good, and children in the early years get off to a strong start. Inclusion and personal development are particular strengths, with effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, and a rich wider curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy school, attend regularly and behave very well.
• Early years provision is strong, with children settling quickly and making secure progress.
• Inclusion is highly effective, and pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well supported.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is highly effective, with strong enrichment and pupil leadership opportunities.
• Phonics and early reading are taught consistently well.
• Staff know pupils well and provide skilled pastoral care.
• The school is warm, inclusive and has a strong sense of community.
• Governors and trustees provide effective support and challenge.
• Safeguarding standards are met.
• Attendance is high for all groups, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.

Areas for Improvement

• Recent curriculum refinements are not consistently embedded across all classes and subjects.
• In some subjects, pupils find it harder to build on prior learning.
• Some teachers do not adapt learning activities as well as they could to support all pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils' writing outcomes are below the national average, and the disadvantage gap in writing is wide.

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 Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.5% 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 Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness 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 Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness had 20.4 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, 8.9% of pupils at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.9% 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 Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness received £8,251 and spent £7,967 for each of its 99 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £150,000 (£1,523 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness is part of Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

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

What is Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness have?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness has 101 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness cover?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness is at Crooklands Brow, Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA15 8LB.