St Mark's CofE Primary School
General Information
- Address: Oxenholme Lane, Natland, Natland, Kendal, LA9 7QH – View on map
- Phone: 01539560719
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Louise Hinton
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 27 families put it first for 27 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Church of England
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 14
- % eligible for free school meals: 7.6%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the Westmorland and Furness average)
- English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 18.8% a year (Westmorland and Furness 12.8%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 47% moved to another school, 53% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Westmorland and Furness: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 1 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 3 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Westmorland and Furness, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 4.1%
- Persistently absent pupils: 11.0%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 15.2%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.4%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 11 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
- Physical disability: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Vision impairment: 2 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2023 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 79% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 16% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 21 percentage points above the Westmorland and Furness average (58%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 62% against an expected 71%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 62%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 84% · Writing 84% · Maths 95% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 95%
- Average test scores: reading 108, maths 110
- Based on: 19 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: 13th of 98 junior and primary schools in the area
- =9George Romney Junior School80%
- =9Grasmere CofE Primary School80%
- #13St Mark's CofE Primary School79%
- =14Ghyllside Primary School78%
- =14Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness78%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
68th of 82 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for Ofsted rating
- #66St Columba's SchoolGood
- #67St George's CofE SchoolGood
- #68St Mark's CofE Primary SchoolGood
- #69St Martin & St Mary Church of England Primary SchoolGood
- #70St Mary's CofE Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,598 (2024-25)
82nd of 101 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for spending per pupil
- #80St Catherine's Catholic Primary School, Penrith£6,731
- #81Parkside Academy£6,633
- #82St Mark's CofE Primary School£6,598
- #83Kirkby Stephen Primary School£6,508
- #84Newbarns Primary and Nursery School£6,423
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)