Schools & FE · Report card

Lancaster Road Primary School

Inspected 3 Mar 2026 · published 24 Jun 2026 · URN 119137

Original PDF ↗

Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Steve Bentham (lead), Amanda Stringer, Chris Fielding, James Marsh

What we read, and from where

Click a reading to see it highlighted in the report.

Achievement verified
Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour verified
Needs attention
Curriculum and teaching verified
Needs attention
Early years verified
Expected standard
Inclusion verified
Expected standard
Leadership and governance verified
Needs attention
Personal development and wellbeing verified
Expected standard
Framework verified
Report card
Inspection datesingle source
3 Mar 2026
Inspectors verified
Amanda Stringer, Chris Fielding, James Marsh, Steve Bentham
Postcode verified
LA4 5TH
Name on report verified
Lancaster Road Primary School
Safeguarding verified
Met
URN verified
119137

Page 1 of 15

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

Join free to get a short, plain-English summary of any report.

Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

AchievementNeeds attention
Attendance and behaviourNeeds attention
Curriculum and teachingNeeds attention
Early yearsExpected
InclusionExpected
Leadership and governanceNeeds attention
Personal development and wellbeingExpected

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

+7Mostly positivemore positive than 8% of reports of this type

Reads more critically than most reports of this type.

Praisepositivefeel safeeffectivestrongimprovingimprovedconsistentlyeffectively

Criticisminconsistencieserrorslackconcernsbelowtoo slowdisruptnot consistently

How the report reads, start to finish

Every paragraph in order, sized by length. Tap one to see it on the page.

FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical

Findings1139w+14
Leadership194w−25
Safeguarding51w−11
What needs to improve49w−20

Strengths

Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.

Pupils feel included in the school and have good relationships with caring staff due to the positive ethos that leaders have established. p.5

Concerns

Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.

The slow improvement is partly due to inconsistencies in addressing basic errors in pupils’ handwriting, grammar and punctuation. p.3

Next steps

Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.

What the report dwells on

Topics by how often they come up, coloured by how they are described. Open one for an example.

Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages: 15
Words of findings: 1,433; about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level: Hard; Flesch 44, typical 43
Average sentence: 17 words
Next steps: 2; typical 3
Hedged sentences: 13%; “some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 41%Leadership 7%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 2%About the inspection 49%

Full report text

Lancaster Road Primary School

Address: Lancaster Road, Morecambe, Lancashire, LA4 5TH Unique reference number (URN): 119137

p.1

Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

p.1

Early years Expected standard

The curriculum in the early years sets out a clear and progressive offer that builds on children's prior knowledge. Staff have highly positive interactions with children that continually entice them into learning more. Staff develop children’s language and vocabulary well through constant conversations. Staff promote a love of reading and children progress well in securing their phonics knowledge from their starting points. They are generally successful in sounding out new words in preparation for key stage 1.

p.2

Early years Expected standard

There is effective support in place to meet the additional needs of children, including those who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teachers identify where children may have specific gaps in their learning. Staff focus on developing children’s knowledge across a range of activities so that there are ample opportunities to revisit their learning.

p.2

Early years Expected standard

Staff engage well with parents and carers. Teachers ensure that detailed checks on children’s learning are used to inform Year 1 teachers about children’s needs when they move on from Reception. This helps new teachers to understand children’s needs at the start of key stage 1. Generally, children are prepared for moving on to the next stage in their education at the end of the Reception Year.

p.2

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have put in place a number of measures to identify pupils' additional needs and meet them, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, staff have received relevant training to bring about improvements to the way in which they provide targeted support to pupils with SEND. This is starting to have a positive effect. Leaders' checks on the progress of pupils with more complex barriers to learning show that the achievement of these pupils is improving. Leaders engage well with families, professionals and external agencies. They take on board specialist advice to shape the provision at the school.

p.2

Inclusion Expected standard

The school uses its additional funding to help disadvantaged pupils to overcome any barriers to their learning. For example, pupils use a range of resources matched to their needs. Leaders are currently in the process of refining their adjustments to the curriculum to enable pupils to participate more fully in their learning. At present, the effectiveness of these strategies varies between classes. For some pupils with a high level of need, there is specialist support in place to help these pupils to progress well from their starting points.

p.2

Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have set out a clear programme for pupils’ personal development, which includes extensive wider opportunities. From the early years to Year 6, pupils study topics that celebrate difference and give them an age-appropriate understanding of different faiths and equality. This is underpinned by a strong promotion of respecting others. As such, pupils learn to cooperate well, listen to others’ viewpoints and understand how to resolve conflicts.

p.2

Needs attention

Leaders have ensured that the school’s relationships and health education curriculum enables pupils to understand how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Pupils are aware of what makes a healthy relationship. They also understand about dangers and the management of risk. For example, they learn about the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The school promotes a strong sense of what is right and wrong.

p.3

Needs attention

Pupils understand what the fundamental British values are and can describe how they relate to everyday life. The work that the school council does provides pupils with a clear sense of the principles of democracy.

p.3

Needs attention

Leaders ensure that there is an extensive range of wider opportunities available for all pupils. These cover sport and the arts and raise awareness of future careers and study in subjects such as engineering. Pupils engage well with these opportunities, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders closely monitor pupils’ participation. They nurture pupils' talents by signposting them to local sports clubs to extend their interests even further. This helps them to understand what activities are available locally and helps to prepare them for life beyond school.

p.3

Achievement Needs attention

Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics remains below the national average. However, outcomes have improved slowly, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. The slow improvement is partly due to inconsistencies in addressing basic errors in pupils’ handwriting, grammar and punctuation. This is not helped by the low attendance of some pupils, which means they have gaps in their learning that have not been addressed. As such, some pupils are not as well prepared for the next steps in their education as they otherwise could.

p.3

Achievement Needs attention

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged, progress through the intended curriculum across all subjects. In the main, they make steady progress from their starting points. However, for some pupils, their progress is hindered at times because tasks are not matched closely enough to their next steps in learning.

p.3

Achievement Needs attention

Due to the more established phonics programme, pupils’ progress in reading is stronger and enables pupils to read with greater fluency and confidence.

p.3

Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

The rate of improvement for pupils’ attendance in recent years has been too slow. This has not been effective enough to prevent absence from remaining higher than that seen nationally. This means that too many pupils miss important parts of their education. However, leaders’ recent initiatives have started to make a difference. These initiatives include clearer expectations from leaders, more effective partnership working and shared responsibilities to improve pupils’ attendance. This has led to modest improvements for all pupil groups, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

p.3

Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Staff have received appropriate training to apply the school’s behaviour policy consistently. Despite the high number of suspensions in previous years, leaders have had a demonstrable impact on reducing incidents of misbehaviour that lead to suspensions. There is specific support in place for pupils who need additional help, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. These strategies are beginning to have a positive impact for some pupils. As a result, the school environment is generally calm and purposeful. Pupils feel safe and say that behaviours such as bullying, discrimination and harassment are not tolerated within the school community. Staff deal effectively with behaviours that could disrupt learning in class. Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning, including resilience to setbacks and the persistence to do well.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have secured some improvements to the curriculum. However, their checks on teaching lack sufficient rigour. As a result, practice varies between classes and year groups. Pupils continue to make basic errors in their writing that are not routinely identified or addressed, particularly when writing across different subjects.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Adjustments made by teachers generally enable pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to access the curriculum. Even so, the tasks set do not consistently match pupils’ next steps. This limits how well some pupils learn and hinders their progress over time.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have designed a broad curriculum that builds systematically on pupils’ prior learning. Where teaching is more effective, staff have secure subject knowledge and use it well to engage pupils and reinforce key learning.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have ensured that there is a great deal of emphasis placed on pupils' understanding of basic mathematics, their development of language and their phonics knowledge. Teachers ensure that pupils apply their skills to become confident at solving calculations and to become fluent readers. Staff provide targeted support for those who need additional help, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. The school's popular 'Reading Rainbows' rewards pupils for reading additional books at home and helps to develop a love of reading.

p.4

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders generally understand the school’s strengths and areas for development, but their checks on some aspects of practice lack rigour. For example, there are some inconsistencies in the way in which the curriculum is delivered that have not been addressed as swiftly as they should have been. They have had some limited impact in key areas of practice, such as improving attendance and attainment. However, these gains have been modest and have not ensured that pupils attend or achieve as well as pupils nationally. Although pupils' achievement is on an upward trend, it is not improving quickly enough. Governors fulfil their statutory duties and question leaders well on aspects such as the provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders, including those responsible for governance, ensure that pupils are at the heart of all of the decisions that they make. For example, they have put in place additional provision for pupils

p.4

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders provide staff with relevant opportunities to help develop their skills. Staff are positive about the support that they receive from leaders. They feel that leaders consider their wellbeing when making changes to the school, including consideration of their workload.

p.5