Storth CofE School

About Storth CofE School

Storth CofE School is a small Church of England primary in Westmorland and Furness, a local authority with 121 primary schools. It ranks 44th among them, placing it in the middle of the pack. The top-performing peers in the area are Yarlside Academy, St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Ulverston, and Staveley CofE School, all of which score higher on the same ranking metric. With just 84 pupils against a capacity of 100, Storth is a genuinely small school, and its headteacher Simon Brabant leads a mixed-gender intake from age 2 to 11. The school has nursery provision, which is a practical draw for local families with younger children. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in 2022, confirmed the school remains Good, a rating it has held consistently since at least its previous graded inspection in 2012. The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 19 applications for 9 places and all 9 first-preference applicants receiving offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.11.

Academically, Storth's Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 show a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined is 62%, which sits just above the local authority average of 58%. However, only 8% of pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects. Breaking it down, maths is a relative strength: 92% of pupils met the expected standard, with an average scaled score of 106, and 23% reached the higher standard. Reading is more modest, with 77% at expected and an average score of 105, while writing sees 69% at expected but a stronger 38% at the higher standard. Progress scores are not available for any subject, so it is hard to say how much value the school adds beyond these raw attainment figures. Nationally, Storth ranks in the bottom half of primary schools on the combined expected standard metric, sitting at the 52nd percentile. In the North West region, it ranks 1033 out of 2065 schools.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for its size, including playing fields, a sports hall, a library, an ICT suite, a forest school area, and a chapel. Sports provision covers tennis, gymnastics, netball, dance, swimming and cricket, while clubs include coding, chess, art, eco and film club. For families with children who have additional needs, Storth lists SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. The school is oversubscribed, so families applying should be prepared for a competitive process, though all first-preference applicants secured a place in the most recent round. This is a school that will suit parents looking for a small, church-affiliated primary with nursery provision, a forest school, and a decent range of extracurriculars, set within a local authority where only six primaries are rated Outstanding.

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