http://alverton.n-yorks.sch.uk/

We are a two-site school with 246 on roll. The main site (KS1) is located at Mount Road, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL6 1RB, while our other site (KS2) is just a short walk away at Moor View Road, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL6 1RF.

Close to Yorkshire Dales and coastal resorts, Northallerton is North Yorkshire’s market town. Situated 60 miles from Newcastle, 50 miles from Leeds and 30 miles from York, it benefits from excellent rail links on Trans Pennine and East Coast main line as well as being very close to both the A1M and A19 making it an easy commute from Teesside, Darlington, York, Harrogate, Newcastle and Leeds.

Our main catchment area is Northallerton, though a small number of children from neighbouring villages travel in with parents. The catchment is a mixture of privately owned and rented properties.

The school population is predominantly White - British. 19 of our pupils (8%) come from minority ethnic groups and have English as an additional language (the national average is 20.6%). Currently we have 108 pupils eligible for FSM 45%, which is above the National Average (24.3%). Currently we have 122 pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding 50%.

Pupils are engaging, friendly, and proud to attend Alverton. They are inquisitive and keen to make friends and please.

We have 13 pupils from Syrian Refugee families who we have supported with integration into School and the community.

We have a high percentage of Pupil Premium children and support children with SLCN. We have a positive reputation for supporting pupils with a range of Special Educational and behavioural needs.

Our facilities include

• Breakfast Club (Free, sponsored by Greggs – 7:45am)
• Reflect Ed partner school with Rosendale Primary School, London
• Accredited Makaton School
• Nursery
• 9 classes, 30 intake, predominantly single year groups but some mixed age classes in Y5 and Y4
• Member of the Beacon Cluster (10 local schools)
• Member of the Swaledale Alliance
• Out of area partner school for Schools North East
• Developing opportunities for becoming a Forest School
• Passionate about providing opportunities in PE & Sport as well as Singing and Music
• After school clubs including sports & athletics, gardening, art, computing and Eco club.
• Annual Robinwood Residential
• Wrap-around care – Rainbow Club at KS1/KS2 till 5:30pm
• New Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) Hub launching September 2021
• New Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Hub, in partnership with Red Kite, launching September 2021

We are also

• A Member of the Swaledale Alliance
• A Member of the Red Kite Teaching School Alliance - we are a newly formed hub for Red Kite Teacher Training in Northallerton under the Train Where You Live Banner.
• A Founding Member of the Beacon Partnership for Northallerton schools and those in the surrounding area. Membership provides Headteachers, Deputy Headteachers and Subject the opportunity to meet. There are also shared events (e.g. singing and sport) and opportunities for schools to share training costs and align areas for development.

The new SLCN hub will be situated in the attached children’s centre while related building work, to support expansion and development, is completed.

We are always open to creating new partnerships and ambitious to develop.

Although we are a split site school (amalgamated 2013) we are very much one school with shared values of care, trust and honesty and a motto of Together Everyone Achieves More. We are a family at Alverton and support and encourage each other to be the best that we can be.

Staffing
Senior Leadership Team
Headteacher – DSL / Lead Mentor Students/ Chair of Beacon Partnership / Locality Board / Regional System Leader
Deputy – DSL / Maths/Phonics/PP/Student & NQT Mentor
SENCO Y5/Y6
EYFS LEAD
English Lead Y4

SLCN Lead – Not part of SLT but contributes as appropriate

Nursery
EYFS
Y1
Y1/2
Y2
Y3
Y4
Y4/5
Y5
Y6

HLTA – 6
ATA – 6
GTA – 12
Support staff are essential in providing support and learning opportunities for Pupil Premium children and have a key focus in EYFS/KS1 in supporting Phonic development and Early Reading

MSA – 10
Admin - 2
Kitchen/Cleaners – 7
Caretaker - 1

Alverton, in keeping with its motto, is very much a TEAM where staff support not only pupils but one another to ensure the school continues to thrive and develop.

Budgetary Position
The school is on a sound financial footing and works closely with the LA bursar service as well as having expertise on the Governing Body in form of a previous School Bursar.

Ofsted September 2018 - Good

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths
School 67% LA 63% National 65%

Percentage of pupils achieving at a higher standard in Reading
School 4% National 11%

Percentage of pupils achieving at a higher standard in Maths
School 37% National 27%

Percentage of pupils achieving at a higher standard in Writing
School 4% National 20%

We are proud of our achievements this year and delighted that the hard work and effort of pupils and staff has been recognised.

Attainment

• EYFS Good Level of Development (GLD ) 73% - Above National
• KS1 Reading/ Writing/Maths –Above National School 74% National 66%
• KS2 Reading/ Writing/Maths –Above National School 67% National 65%

Scaled Scores
100 is the average scaled score
Alverton average scaled scores are:
Reading      104 (in line with National)
Maths          105 (+1 from 2018) in line with National

Progress
Progress between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is calculated differently now with 0 being expected, positive figures being above average and negative figures below.
Reading Progress for 2019 was -0.89
Writing Progress for 2019 was -5.09
Maths Progress for 2019 was 0.09

School Strengths

• Governing Body
• Opening new SLCN HUB
• Opening new SCITT HUB
• Mixture of experienced staff and new teachers
• Growing pupil numbers
• Support for Pupil Premium children and families
• Nursery / EYFS
• Professionally generous staff support others schools SENCO/Headteacher/Science Lead
• Highly regarded by Local Authority
• Integration of Syrian Refugee pupils and families into school and the wider community

Areas for improvement – identified by Ofsted

Improve leadership and management by:

• continuing to support and empower middle leaders to lead their subject areas with confidence, so that they use regular checks on the quality of teaching and learning alongside accurate assessment information to direct school improvement successfully.

Improve the quality of teaching and learning by:

• ensuring that the most able pupils are sufficiently challenged in all subjects, so that
  a greater proportion reaches higher standards
• making sure that the lower-ability pupils in early years and key stage 1 have
  reading books that are well matched to their developing phonics skills, so that they
  can read with fluency, confidence and enjoyment
• raising expectations of pupils’ accuracy of letter formation and presentation of
  work, so that pupils’ rates of learning are not hindered, and they consistently
  produce work to be proud of.

Main Priorities of Improvement Plan

Objective 1:
To improve teaching, learning, assessment and outcomes in EGPS, phonics and writing.
Objective 2:
To ensure Subject leadership, particularly English, Science, History and Geography is effective in securing improvements in teaching, learning and assessment across the school (with a focus on greater depth and Pupil Premium).
Objective 3:
To build a Curriculum with appropriate coverage, content, structure and sequencing that is implemented effectively.
Objective 4:
To continue the upward trend of attendance and reduced persistent absence.

Parents and Carers
Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school’s work. They have confidence in the Headteacher and his team looking after their children and giving them positive learning experiences. One parent commented, ‘We know she is in good hands,’ and another described that they see the school ‘going from strength to strength’.
‘Parents value opportunities to be involved in their children’s learning.’ (Ofsted, 2018)

School has been well supported by parents during Lockdown and we have moved Parent’s Evenings online. Otherwise, we have maintained our open door policy, engaging with parents through open afternoons, class assemblies, curriculum events and performances.

The school is committed to raising funds.

The wider community

• Weekly newsletter
• Information evenings
• Town Council invite school to events and children have been involved with community projects – Tour de Yorkshire/ Food Festival
• Active PTA with regular events in school. Reinvestment into school is a key priority
• Links with Churches in Northallerton, a pastor from the CE church visits weekly and other church youth leaders host whole school assemblies
• Hosting of annual McMillan Coffee morning
• Annual summer and Christmas fairs
• Harvest Festival within local church
• Unobtrusive high profile of school within the community by walking to all local venues and sporting events
• Raising money for local charities and supporting community events

Local Authority
We work closely with the LA and have a strong reciprocal relationship with them. This includes a close working relationship with School Improvement colleagues, good governor support, training and update meetings and positive relationships with HR, finance support (bursar), catering, cleaning, grounds and buildings maintenance.

Governors
Governors regularly visit the school and carry out their role with diligence and pride. They provide support and challenge and have a range of relevant skills from current and previous career roles.

Northallerton
Lying in the centre of a large rural area, Northallerton was established as a market town in 1200 by Royal Charter. A thriving town, it has good facilities, especially for sports and cultural activities and is the major retail centre for the local area. With close proximity to the Yorkshire Dales and coastal resorts, it is an ideal base to explore the nearby Moors, historical cities and picturesque villages. Northallerton benefits from easy connectivity to the A1M, M62, A19, A64 providing convenient connectivity to vibrant cities such as Durham, Teesside, Darlington, Newcastle, York, Leeds, and is a little over two hours commute on the main train line to London.

Living and Working in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is England's largest county and one of the most rural. The area comprises the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Pennines and a stunning coastline around Scarborough and Whitby. There are ruined castles and abbeys, serene gardens, unique breweries, thrilling rides and industrial heritage. The area hosted the phenomenal Tour de France in 2014 and has since created the Tour de Yorkshire, an annual event with global recognition. Our success in supporting these events led to Harrogate hosting the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2019.

North Yorkshire has plenty to offer the outdoor enthusiast. From the hard gritstone of Almscliff and Brimham rocks to the limestone of Malham, Gordale and Kilnsey climbing venues are in abundance. The Yorkshire Dales is the premier area for caving and for mountain biking; there are the bridleways of the Dales and North York Moors as well as the renowned trail centre at Dalby Forest. There are a small number of sailing clubs on reservoirs around the county and fantastic surfsport venues and sea kayaking on the east coast.

While the county is rightly known for its wide open spaces, it also incorporates attractive market towns including Pickering and Helmsley, traditional seaside towns, the Spa town of Harrogate and the ancient city of York - the most visited city outside of London. There are a wide range of shopping, leisure and cultural facilities as well as excellent schools, universities, road and rail links, there really is everything to offer you and your family as a place to work, live and enjoy!