Lorton School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Lorton School High Lorton, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 9UL

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Outcome

Lorton School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The head of school is Olivia Harrison. This school is part of The Good Shepherd Multi Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Claire Render, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Peter Ballard. There is also an executive headteacher, Joanne Laker, who is responsible for this school and for two others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this small and nurturing school. They are happy. They form trusting bonds with staff and each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school and the trust have high expectations for pupils’ achievement. Pupils learn a broad and engaging curriculum. Many pupils achieve well and are ready for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sets high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Pupils open doors for visitors and show politeness and good manners around the school. Children in the early years quickly learn to share, take turns and recognise what it means to be part of the school community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school promotes pupils’ leadership skills through roles such as school councillors and playground monitors. Pupils take pride in the impact they have through these responsibilities. Older pupils enthusiastically serve as ‘special helpers’ for children in the early years. Pupils eagerly try to make a positive difference in their wider community, for example by raising money for charities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a variety of enriching experiences during their time at school. They engage in outdoor activities that deepen their understanding of the natural world. For 24 June 2025

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example, they grow fruit and vegetables to eat at lunchtime and stay overnight in the local countryside.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Since the previous inspection, the trust, the local governing body and the school have worked together effectively to ensure that the school is developing its educational offer and making improvements. This includes developing the curriculum and strengthening provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

There have been many changes in the school in recent times. However, the school pays close regard to the impact of these changes on staff workload and well-being. Most staff report that the school acts positively to help them to manage their workload.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has developed an ambitious curriculum that builds logically from the beginning of the early years to the end of Year 6. The school has identified the most important information that pupils should learn in each subject curriculum and when they should learn it.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The trust ensures that staff have the knowledge and expertise they need to deliver the curriculum effectively across a number of subjects. Typically, staff choose appropriate resources, activities and questions to help pupils to learn. However, the school’s ability to pinpoint and address gaps in learning is at various stages of effectiveness. Sometimes, the checks of what pupils have learned and remembered over time do not identify where pupils have gaps in their knowledge or where they have developed misconceptions. On occasion, this slows pupils’ learning and hampers the depth of subject knowledge that some pupils acquire.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school prioritises reading. Pupils read books that are well matched to their reading level. This helps pupils to gain confidence quickly. Staff deliver the phonics programme well. There are clear processes in place to identify when pupils struggle to keep up. Staff provide focused additional support for these pupils, which helps them to catch up quickly. Many pupils become confident and fluent readers.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has established systems for checking and evaluating the delivery of the curriculum. However, at times, the school does not use these systems as effectively as it could. On occasion, the school does not identify or address some inconsistencies in how the curriculum is delivered. This hinders how well a small number of pupils learn the intended curriculum.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The trust is supporting the school in developing its approach to accurately and quickly identify pupils with SEND. Many pupils benefit from the support that they receive. However, for a small number of pupils with SEND, the school does not adapt the delivery of the curriculum consistently well. This means, on occasion, these pupils do not learn as well as they could. 24 June 2025

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Pupils are considerate towards each other and towards staff. Pupils try their best to listen attentively during lessons and to answer questions. Staff support children in the early years to learn well-established routines. This helps them to learn and to play cooperatively alongside each other.

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The vast majority of pupils attend school regularly. The school provides effective support for families where attendance is a concern.

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The programme to support pupils’ wider development is well considered. Pupils take part in a range of experiences beyond the academic curriculum, including sports clubs and singing events. Staff teach pupils about healthy relationships and how to keep safe. Pupils learn about other faiths and cultures. They understand the importance of treating everyone fairly and with respect. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the school sometimes does not identify key gaps in pupils’ learning or adapt future teaching to help pupils overcome these deficits in knowledge. The school should ensure that teachers are suitably equipped to check pupils’ learning across the curriculum and ensure that they learn the important knowledge securely.  For a very small number of pupils with SEND, the delivery of the curriculum is not adapted consistently well. This means that these pupils sometimes struggle to learn as well as they can. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to make suitable adaptations to the delivery of the curriculum so that all pupils with SEND learn successfully.  At times, the school is not effective at evaluating the delivery and impact of the curriculum. This means that some weaknesses are not identified and acted on in a timely manner. In turn, this hinders pupils’ achievement in these subjects. The school

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

should ensure that it gathers and evaluates information effectively so that it can quickly address any shortcomings in subject curriculums.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness. 24 June 2025

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We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Lorton School, to be good for overall effectiveness in February 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 24 June 2025

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School details

Headteacher Joanne Laker (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 February 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Good Shepherd Multi Academy Trust.  Since the previous inspection, an executive headteacher has been appointed to the school. The executive headteacher took up post in January 2024.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.  The school runs a breakfast club.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 24 June 2025

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 The inspectors met with the executive headteacher, head of school and other school leaders.  The lead inspector met with members of the local governing body and trustees, including the chair of trustees, chair of governors and the CEO.  The lead inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and around school.  Inspectors spoke with pupils, in meetings, at playtime and at lunchtime, about their wider experience of school. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online survey for

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pupils.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and documents relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and well-being. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Victoria Burnside, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Keith Wright Ofsted Inspector 24 June 2025

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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