What we’re about

We want our children to leave us with everything they need to do well in life. Reading, writing and maths, obviously. But also the stuff that doesn’t show up on a test. Confidence. Kindness. The nerve to have a go at something hard and the bounce to get back up when it doesn’t work first time.

Our motto is #daretodream and we mean it. Our children, staff and community believe anything is possible, and every so often we prove it. We were Golden Buzzer finalists on Britain’s Got Talent. We were third favourite for Christmas Number One. We were named Happiest Primary School in the country and Primary School of the Year for Making a Difference. We now run FlakeFest, our own music festival on the school field, and in 2025 Whigfield headlined it. Saturday Night. On our field. We still can’t quite believe it either.

None of that happens in a school where children are unhappy. It happens because they feel safe, they feel known, and they feel like they belong. Ofsted put it better than I can. They said our children get “loving support from staff who know them exceptionally well”. That’s the bit I’m proudest of.

Behaviour

Nearly every visitor says the same thing on the way out. How polite the children are. How friendly. How they held the door and said hello and asked who you were. Behaviour here is excellent, and it’s the thing people comment on most.

We don’t do it with shouting or traffic lights. We do it with relationships. Our approach to behaviour is relational. Three simple expectations: kind, ready, safe. Adults who stay calm. Children who know they’ll be listened to when something’s gone wrong, and helped to put it right. It takes more effort than a sanctions chart. It works better, too.

Learning

We follow the CUSP curriculum, which is ambitious, knowledge-rich and properly thought through. Children learn things in the right order, revisit them, and remember them. Our art and design technology is something special. Children work with real materials, learn real techniques and produce work that stops visitors in the corridor. Have a look in Strive, where a lot of it ends up on the walls.

We also believe in play, and not as an afterthought. We hold the OPAL Platinum Award, the highest a school can get. Our playtimes mean loose parts, a mud café, a scooter track, a sand pit, fancy dress, a sensory garden and music across the field. Children from different year groups play together and look after each other. Come at lunchtime. It’s brilliant.

Getting out there

The world is the best classroom there is, so we go and look at it. We have our own minibuses and they’re out constantly. Visitors are in school nearly every week: firefighters, artists, musicians, nurses, people with a job to explain and a story to tell.

Every child gets the chance to go to London. Every child gets the chance to go on an outward bound residential. And when we said we’d take our children to New York, people told us it couldn’t be done. We found the funding, we took them, and for our families it was pretty much free. That’s what #daretodream looks like in practice.

The people

We have a brilliant team. They’re quick to embrace change and they’re not afraid to do things differently if it’s better for our children. We invest heavily in them, because good teaching is the thing that changes lives.

We also have a dedicated nurture team who look after children and families when life gets hard. There is very little they won’t do for our kids. If your family is going through something, you won’t be going through it on your own.

The place

Our building and resources are second to none and rarely found in a primary school. We have our own art room, music room, dance studio, children’s kitchen, sensory room, wildlife area and a number of nurture spaces. We’ve got green screens, drones, professional vlogging kit and, even DJ decks. Schools from around the country come to see how our way of doing things.

Strive

We have our very own community coffee shop, Strive, right here on site.

We always wanted a place where our families and our neighbours could come together. Somewhere to feel like you belong. Somewhere to make memories and do things a bit differently. Thanks to significant funding from FCMS, we built it properly. Atkinsons coffee roasted up the road in Lancaster. Food and cakes as delicious as we can make them and as cheap as we can keep them. A safe, warm space that’s ours.

It has become whatever our community needs it to be. Job fairs, dementia support, Women’s Aid, craft sessions, parties, baby groups, a gallery, rooms to hire. Every one of our children gets work experience there, serving customers and selling things they’ve made. They’re brilliant at it. It’s a Community Interest Company, so if it ever makes a profit, every penny goes back into our local area.

For a new parent it means something simple. When you drop your child off, there’s a proper coffee and a friendly face on the other side of the gate. You’ll get to know other parents. You’ll get to know us. Most of the best conversations I have with families happen at Strive, not in my office.

Come and see us

We’re a happy, energetic and ambitious school in a community we’re proud of. We work hard, we laugh a lot and we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We do take your child seriously.

If you’re thinking about Flakefleet, don’t take my word for any of this. Ring the office, come in, and have a wander round. Watch the children. Chat to the staff. Have a brew in Strive. Then decide.

Exciting times lie ahead. Come and be part of the adventure.

Headteacher
Dave McPartlin