Halsall St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School

About Halsall St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School

Halsall St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School is a small, state-funded primary in the West Lancashire area of Lancashire, catering for 177 pupils aged 4 to 11. It sits within a competitive local landscape: among 48 primary schools in the West Lancashire local authority, it ranks 6th based on the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2, placing it in the top 25 per cent nationally. Its closest high-performing peers in the LA include Crawford Village Primary School, New Longton All Saints CofE Primary School, and St George's Church of England Primary School, Chorley. The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 academic year, receiving 40 total applications for 22 places, with 24 first-preference applications and 22 offers made. This level of demand suggests a strong local reputation, and the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2025 judged its overall effectiveness as not judged, though it maintained a Good rating for quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management, with an Outstanding rating for early years provision.

Academically, Halsall St Cuthbert's performs well above the local authority average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 75 per cent of pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared to the Lancashire LA average of 60 per cent. In reading, 96 per cent met the expected standard and 46 per cent reached the higher standard; in maths, 96 per cent met the expected standard and 43 per cent reached the higher standard. Writing saw 75 per cent at the expected level and 18 per cent at the higher level. Average scaled scores were 109 in both reading and maths. The school's national ranking places it in the top 20 per cent of all primary schools in England, and within the North West region it ranks 368th out of 2,065 schools. The previous Ofsted inspection in 2015 rated the school Outstanding overall, so the current Good rating represents a change, though the early years provision remains Outstanding.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including an ICT suite, library, gymnasium, art studios, playing fields, outdoor playground, music rooms, and a chapel. Sports on offer include football, cricket, dance, rounders, and gymnastics, while clubs include chess, gardening, and choir. For pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, the school supports a range of needs including specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses from 60 respondents between September 2024 and September 2025 show 85 per cent would recommend the school, though some concerns were raised: 42 per cent of parents disagreed that the school gives SEND children the support they need, and 15 per cent disagreed that concerns are dealt with properly. The school is a Church of England primary with a religious character, and it does not have a nursery or sixth form provision. It is best suited to families seeking a small, academically strong primary within a faith-based setting in the West Lancashire area.

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