Millom Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 February 2026

The school has faced considerable disruption in recent years. Changes in leadership and shifting approaches to the design and delivery of the curriculum have created uncertainty. During this period, staff have continued make pupils' wellbeing and safety a priority. This means that pupils enjoy coming to school. However, leaders' progress in tackling the weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching have been too slow. As a result, children in the early years and pupils across the rest of the school do not achieve well. They do not gain the basic knowledge that they need to build secure foundations for later learning. Pupils' needs and barriers to learning are not identified well enough. As a result, gaps in pupils' knowledge, especially in writing and mathematics, do not reduce quickly enough over time. Classrooms are generally calm. There are clear routines that help pupils settle quickly. Pupils enjoy learning new vocabulary in science and engaging with story books. They play kindly and support their friends if they become upset. However, this positive climate is not consistent across classes. Some lessons become unsettled, particularly when pupils are asked to complete work that is either too easy or presents too much challenge. Leaders have built positive links with families and the community. Many families spoke highly of the school. Leaders promote the value of attending school regularly. Pupils enjoy the attendance race and want their class to win. Even so, some pupils miss school through absence. Pupils speak warmly of the relationships that they hold with staff and their peers. They are proud to belong to a small, caring community. They feel safe and have confidence in staff to resolve any concerns, including bullying. Pupils enjoy clubs, trips and special events. They learn how to stay safe and treat others with respect. Pupils feel included in school life and take part in wider experiences that extend their learning and knowledge of the world. This ensures that they are ready for life in modern Britain.

What the school should improve

• Governors must ensure that leadership capacity increases. This is so leaders can identify weaknesses in the school's provision and then take action that leads to sustainable improvement over time. • Governors must ensure that they maintain an accurate oversight of the school so that they can offer well-informed support and challenge to leaders. • Leaders must design a purposeful early years curriculum and ensure that this is taught well so that children secure important knowledge and skills that equip them to be successful in Year 1. • Leaders should ensure that staff in the early years identify gaps in children's knowledge and use this information, alongside purposeful interactions, to help children gain secure early writing, mathematics and communication skills. • Leaders should ensure that the newly designed curriculum is taught consistently well, and assessment systems are used purposefully, so that pupils gain secure knowledge, especially in writing and mathematics, which enables them to achieve well. • Leaders should ensure that the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and other pupils with barriers to learning, are identified accurately. They should also ensure that additional support has an impact so that barriers reduce over time. • Leaders should continue to develop their approach to improving pupils' attendance so that more pupils are in school regularly. • Leaders should address the causes of the occasional incidents of disruptive behaviour so that pupils' learning is not interrupted.

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