Schools & FE · Report card

Westminster Primary Academy

Inspected 19 May 2026 · published 14 Jul 2026 · URN 144945

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

David Spruce (lead), Christopher McDonald, Jonny Foster-Carr, Nicky Parkinson

What we read, and from where

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Achievement verified
Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour verified
Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching verified
Needs attention
Early years verified
Expected standard
Inclusion verified
Expected standard
Leadership and governance verified
Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing verified
Needs attention
Framework verified
Report card
Inspection datesingle source
19 May 2026
Inspectors verified
Christopher McDonald, David Spruce, Jonny Foster-Carr, Nicky Parkinson
Postcode verified
FY1 2QE
Name on report verified
Westminster Primary Academy
Safeguarding verified
Met
URN verified
144945

Page 1 of 16

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

AchievementNeeds attention
Attendance and behaviourExpected
Curriculum and teachingNeeds attention
Early yearsExpected
InclusionExpected
Leadership and governanceExpected
Personal development and wellbeingNeeds attention

Tone of the report

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

+46Positivemore positive than 19% of reports of this type

In line with other reports of this type.

Praiseeffectivehighly effectivepositivefeel safeeffectivelyhappyvery wellswiftly

Criticismnot secureconcernsfailerrorsinconsistencieslimitednot effectivenot rigorous

How the report reads, start to finish

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FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical

Findings1578w+43
Leadership239w+41
Safeguarding51w−11
What needs to improve120w+73

Strengths

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Concerns

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Next steps

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What the report dwells on

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Anatomy of the report

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

Pages: 16
Words of findings: 1,985; about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level: Hard; Flesch 45, typical 43
Average sentence: 15 words
Next steps: 6; typical 3
Hedged sentences: 15%; “some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 53%Leadership 8%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 4%About the inspection 33%

Full report text

Westminster Primary Academy

Address: Westminster Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 2QE Unique reference number (URN): 144945

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

Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders have steadily raised pupils’ attendance. Their effective plans and actions over time have led to sustained improvements in the school’s average attendance as well a year-on- year reduction in absenteeism. Current data shows that average attendance rates are rising further. Leaders are quick to spot any patterns or changes that may occur. This enables leaders to swiftly challenge and support families when attendance starts to slip. They take highly tailored action to remove a wide range of barriers that would otherwise prevent pupils from attending regularly.

p.2

Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils behave well. They generally have positive attitudes toward their learning. Leaders provide effective support for pupils who need extra help to manage their emotions. They have created additional spaces in classrooms and around the school that pupils can access freely when needed. This enables pupils to take a minute to calm down when they might feel stressed. Pupils get along nicely. For example, during social times, they play together harmoniously within the numerous games and activities available to them. Pupils are respectful. They dislike the notion of bullying and are mindful of treating each other kindly. As a result, they rarely experience discrimination or bullying.

p.2

Early years Expected standard

Leaders have taken effective action to enhance the curriculum offer in the early years. They have tailored the design of the curriculum to meet the needs of the children well. Leaders have focused sharply on providing better opportunities that help children to understand early concepts of number and skills in counting. They have developed a language-rich environment that helps children build vocabulary linked to their learning. For example, children can use technical vocabulary to explain some amphibian and insect life cycles. As a result, children build effective communication skills and early knowledge across different subjects. Pupils generally achieve well. They make a positive start to their education, often from very low starting points.

p.2

Early years Expected standard

Staff teach the early years curriculum skilfully. Where necessary, they make suitable adaptations to different areas of learning so that pupils with individual needs can still succeed. Staff support children well to develop their interpersonal skills. They help children learn how to share, take turns and cooperate kindly in group tasks. Staff model these skills effectively when children need a gentle reminder. Children form positive relationships with staff because they are treated with kindness and care. Staff’s interactions at points when children are learning through play are also effective. They ask helpful questions to scaffold children’s thinking, which helps them to understand new concepts.

p.2

Inclusion Expected standard

As soon as pupils arrive at the school, leaders are quick to identify and assess the needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders take highly effective actions to support vulnerable pupils. For instance, leaders work collaboratively with the local authority to provide quality support to pupils in local authority care. They also build effective partnerships with a range of agencies to support those known to social care and those from asylum-seeking families. This includes facilitating access to housing support, food banks and appropriate health care. This ensures that these pupils’ crucial needs are met, allowing them to engage more successfully with their education.

p.2

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders make effective use of additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils. For instance, they have invested heavily in additional pastoral and family support staff to break down barriers to attendance and emotional wellbeing. This team’s effective work has secured measurable improvements in attendance and contributed to improved standards of behaviour.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Overall, leaders provide appropriate support for pupils with SEND. However, sometimes the staff’s targeted support and in-class adaptations for these pupils are not sharply focused. Leaders do not rigorously check and evaluate some of this support. They sometimes fail to spot and address when some support is less effective in meeting some pupils’ learning needs.

p.3

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders act in the best interests of pupils, their families and the wider community. This includes those responsible for governance. Overall, leaders know the school’s strengths and generally take effective strategic actions to address the priorities for improvement. While their oversight and development of the curriculum and some targeted academic support are not as rigorous as they need to be, their work in most other areas is more impactful. Leaders’ work to steadily improve attendance and behaviour are testaments to this.

p.3

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders look after staff’s wellbeing and support them to manage their workload. Staff are happy at the school and appreciate the leaders’ considerate actions. Staff have access to suitable professional development opportunities that typically align well with school priorities, such as recent phonics training. Leaders also form partnerships with other schools to help staff learn from the practice of others.

p.3

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders engage very well with parents and carers. It is a standout feature of their work. Leaders make themselves readily available to the parents to quickly respond to their concerns and queries. This has fostered trust between home and school and ensures that issues are addressed swiftly. Leaders also facilitate pupils’ engagement in the community through activities such as litter picking and musical performances at local events.

p.3

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Those responsible for governance fulfil their statutory duties. They offer appropriate challenge and support to leaders. On the whole, they maintain a clear understanding of leaders’ work in developing the school.

p.3

Achievement Needs attention

Pupils do not achieve as well as they could. While pupils have generally attained close to national averages in end-of-key-stage 2 assessments, especially those who are disadvantaged, pupils currently at the school are not doing so well. For instance, pupils are not quickly securing the basic skills in early reading, spelling, and fluency with number facts. Leaders are aware of the root causes in curriculum and teaching that are preventing pupils from securing these skills sooner. However, their actions to address the issues are largely in their infancy.

p.4

Achievement Needs attention

In other curriculum subjects, pupils do not secure a rich body of knowledge. In these subjects, pupils often have not fully understood what they have been taught. Consequently, they are not making sufficient progress through the curriculum from their own starting points, which also means they are not suitably ready for the demands of the next stage in their education.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Although leaders have generally set out a suitably designed curriculum, teachers do not deliver it consistently well. This includes their delivery of crucial early knowledge in English and mathematics, such as phonics and certain number facts. Some staff design learning activities that are not well-matched to pupils’ needs and abilities. At times, teachers also deliver content that does not help pupils to deepen their subject-specific knowledge and skills. In turn, pupils sometimes develop superficial knowledge across different topics.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

At times, staff do not establish whether pupils have understood the new learning. They sometimes move on before pupils are ready. Additionally, some staff do not spot when pupils have errors and misconceptions. When they do, sometimes they do not provide the right feedback to help correct pupils’ knowledge.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders’ oversight of the delivery and impact of the curriculum is sometimes not as sharp as it could be. This means that they occasionally do not pick up and address some variability in teaching as swiftly as they should. In turn, this hinders pupils’ academic success.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive additional support to access the curriculum. Nonetheless, they are hindered by the same variability in teaching quality as their classmates.

p.4

Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils do not develop a secure understanding of fundamental British values and the diverse characteristics and customs of others. Although they are broadly aware of democracy and show tolerance and respect for people, no matter who they are, they have a limited appreciation for how others can be different. This is largely caused by inconsistencies in how well pupils are taught. Consequently, pupils are not fully prepared for life in modern, multicultural Britain. Pupils gain a firm knowledge of how to form safe, healthy relationships and how to keep safe online. They understand how their bodies will change as they grow, and how to keep themselves fit and well, both physically and mentally.

p.4

Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils benefit from high levels of care and support for their emotional welfare. Leaders tailor this support well, providing more intensive help for those who need it most. This support ranges from in-school counselling to general daily check-ins to see how pupils are feeling. Pupils appreciate this effective care, which helps them to manage their emotions and focus on their education.

p.5

Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders ensure that pupils’ schooling is enriched through a wide range of additional opportunities that all pupils are supported to access. Pupils have access to plentiful music opportunities, including joining the orchestra and having drumming lessons. They go on trips to places linked to their curriculum lessons and have numerous visiting speakers, including the local police and sports teams. Leaders provide a range of extra-curricular clubs that are open to all. These include, for example, drawing club, tag rugby, and cricket games during the school day. Leaders keep a track of who attends and take suitable actions to encourage those who have barriers to their participation.

p.5