Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Overview

Pupils are described as happy and safe in this “welcoming school,” where relationships between staff and pupils are strong. The school maintains high aspirations for achievement, with pupils who are “positive about their learning” and achieve well across all stages. Inspectors found the curriculum to be ambitious and logically structured, supported by staff who are generally adept at identifying and addressing misconceptions.

Strengths

• Pupils are “kind and respectful,” creating a “harmonious place to learn and play” where they look after one another.
• The curriculum “builds logically from the beginning of the early years to the end of Year 6,” with staff using subject knowledge to design effective activities.
• Reading is a clear priority; most pupils are “fluent, accurate readers,” and staff act swiftly to support those finding it difficult.
• The school quickly identifies pupils with additional needs, including SEND, providing effective guidance and support that typically benefits learners.
• Personal development is nurtured through a wide range of opportunities, including outdoor activities and community roles, helping pupils become “resilient” and respectful citizens.

Areas to improve

• Learning activities are not always matched sufficiently well to the identified curriculum knowledge, meaning some pupils do not learn key content as well as they could.
• Assessment strategies in some subjects are at an “early stage of development,” hindering the identification of key gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”