At Lowther Endowed School and Little VIPS Day Care, there’s a special atmosphere – a close-knit community that feels like one big, happy family.

We believe happy children thrive when they are given the space to grow in confidence. That is the foundation of any successful school. At Lowther Endowed, opportunities are plentiful – whether it is joining a sports team, taking part in school productions, singing at Lowther Castle or dancing at UDance. Every child is known, every voice is heard, and our dedicated teachers are passionate about making learning fun and engaging.

We are handily located between Penrith and Shap, in the village of Hackthorpe. Our catchment area consists of 6 villages and many rural hamlets and farms, but we welcome children from other areas too. 

We have two mixed-age classes for children aged 5 – 11, as well as 3 rooms in our much-loved Little VIPs Day Care early years provision. Class sizes never exceed 25, ensuring each child gets the attention they deserve. We also offer well-established wraparound care, with before and after-school provision - perfect for supporting busy families.

"Pupils enjoy coming to Lowther Endowed School. They are happy in school and value being part of the team. Pupils enjoy the vibrant and exciting school environment. Staff know pupils and their families very well. They ensure that pupils feel supported and are safe."   

Our school has five classes:

Butterflies: Baby room (Under 2s - Hayley Greenhow

Busy Bees: Toddler Room (2 - 3 year olds - Hayley Fassam)

Red Squirrels: Pre-school (3 + year olds - Chrissy Byrne)

Hedgehogs: Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 (Miss Booth)

Badgers: Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 (Mrs Douthwaite/Ms Thwaites/Mrs Thomas)

We have spaces available in all year groups currently. 

See our Nursery section on our website for full details of the Lititle VIPs Day Care.

We are very fortunate to have excellent facilities, including a hall and large classrooms, along with excellent outdoor facilities such as a playing field, large wildlife area and playground. We also have the use of the local tennis courts, where we can play netball and football. The school has access to a dedicated Forest School area in the forest nearby as well as developing an exciting on-site growing area. We believe that learning beyond the classroom, appreciating the beautiful place we live and work in, is vital to our well-being and to develop a sense of belonging and community.  Our children truly love the outdoors, keeping fit and healthy, and we really celebrate their positive attitude in being active.

Our meals are fantastic! These are cooked on-site by our chef, Anthony, who works hard to provide delicious, nutritious food every day that the children will enjoy. We use locally sourced food wherever possible.

Every day, we have an after-school club, which is very popular, run by Mirren Pinkerton.  We also have a breakfast club (from 8 am) and an 'early bird' drop-off club available which is run by Lynn Pinkerton.

We provide a wide range of extra-curricular activities, including a great outdoor residential trip to Lockerbie Manor, and an action-packed urban residential to Edinburgh (alternate years for Year 5 and 6). 

We consider PE to be a very important part of our curriculum and are providing the children with opportunities to try a range of sports such as orienteering, fencing,  wheelchair basketball and archery alongside the more traditional school team games - football, cricket, tennis and rugby.  We love to enter competitions and are incredibly successful (of course it is taking part that is important!) 

We are proud of our heritage and ambitious about the future. If you would  like to know more, we would be delighted to show you around – just get in touch to arrange a visit.

Thank you for visiting our website.

Michelle Clark

Headteacher

If you would like a paper copy of any of the information on our school website, please speak to our school office who will provide this free of charge.