Welcome, and thank you for your interest in our Executive Headteacher opportunity

Follifoot Primary School is a very small, traditional Yorkshire stone school in the centre of a picturesque country village.  The village is well located, close to Harrogate, Knaresborough and Wetherby.  The name Follifoot derives from the Norse meaning “Place of the Horse Fight” when the village was probably a training centre for horses entering medieval joust fights.  The village enjoys beautiful views over the vale of York and has the south gatehouse to the Rudding Park Estate as a feature on the main street.  There is a strong sense of community in the village with a shop, Post Office and two pubs as well as a cricket club, horse riding centre and rugby and golf clubs nearby.

The school runs a “Good Morning Club” Mondays to Fridays (8am – 8:50am) which offers a wide range of activities including art, board games and computer games.  Afterschool Activities include Construction/Science Club, Mindfulness, Craft Club and Multi Sports, run by Sporting Influence.

Spofforth Primary School is a small village school in the historic village of Spofforth.  The school itself is a made up of an old stone building with brand new wing, purpose-built wing to house KS1 and EYFS.  In the heart of the village is Spofforth Castle (opens in a new tab), the ruined medieval residence of William de Percy dating back to 1067. As well a post office, village shop/deli there is also a bistro and popular village inns.  Mixing the old with the new, there is a large housing development at Spofforth Hill and 72 new homes have also recently been built in Spofforth.  The village is a short drive away from Follifoot, so also located to nearby larger towns of Harrogate, Knaresborough and Wetherby as well as being close to the bright lights of Leeds and the popular city of York.

“Rise and Shine” club is run at Spofforth on Mondays to Thursdays (7:30am – 8:45am) and there are Multisport , Art and Mindfulness clubs run after school. We have also recently introduced wraparound care at Spofforth, which has enriched our school community.

In October 2015, Follifoot School Federated with Spofforth Primary School.  As our community changes, we have seen falling pupil numbers at Follifoot School. Currently, Reception children from both schools are taught in one Early Years class at Spofforth School, with a taxi service running between the schools.  DfE have advised that the Federation will now need to provide an Early Years facility at Follifoot, and work is currently underway to ascertain the best way to achieve these requirements. Another consideration for the future is a potential restructure of the school to ensure ongoing viability. We are looking for someone who can bring strong leadership to the schools through challenges such as these.

Current Federation Strengths

Across the Federation, a number of strengths underpin the quality of education and the wider pupil experience:

• Improved standards in phonics in Key Stage 1.
• Strong relationships across staff teams, with pupils and with families.
• A clear Christian vision and ethos that is lived daily and shapes the school culture.
• A committed, pupil‑centred staff team.
• A highly supportive parental community.
• A strong vision and ethos that drives practice within classrooms.
• Robust pastoral systems that identify and meet pupil needs effectively.
• Strong relationships and collaboration across the Federation.
• EYFS is a significant strength.
• Clear and consistently graded behaviour structures.
• Safeguarding is effective.
• Policies, systems and processes are robust.
• Statutory compliance is consistently met.
• The Federation is projected to operate within a surplus budget in the next financial year.
• Clear leadership systems and processes are now developed and becoming embedded across the curriculum.

Together we Love, Learn & Thrive

LOVE

We nurture each individual, build positive relationships with everyone and value their uniqueness.

LEARN

We inspire children to have a lifelong love of learning. They develop wisdom, knowledge and skills and become fluent learners.

THRIVE

We develop children socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually, help them to be the best versions of themselves and prepare them well for their future lives in a diverse world.

Read more about our vision (opens in a new tab)

Learning at Follifoot and Spofforth Schools

Children are at the heart of all we do across Follifoot and Spofforth. We aim to nurture resilience, inspire ambition and open doors to future dreams. Our curriculum is designed to offer the very best learning opportunities for a modern world, and is continually reviewed so it meets the needs of every child in both schools.

Our Curriculum

• Rooted in our shared Christian vision and principles.
• Designed for all children, recognising and celebrating their individual uniqueness.
• Ambitious and challenging, enabling every child to progress well and become the very best they can be.
• Developed to promote strong attitudes to learning as well as the knowledge and skills within each subject.
• Underpinned by key principles of cognitive science and supported by research into effective learning.
• Built to promote a love of reading and to balance knowledge acquisition with skills development.
• Carefully and systematically sequenced to support long‑term understanding, fluency and resilience.
• Balanced across all subject disciplines, valuing each equally.
• Designed to broaden children’s horizons beyond their local context and prepare them well for life in modern Britain.

Our Pupils

Our 147 pupils are polite, considerate and thoughtful. They are engaged in their learning, with both schools’ last Ofsted reports describing strong pupil personal development.  Inspired by our vision for the schools, we foster a culture where pupils are encouraged to respect others through fairness and thoughtfulness. This promotes a sense of personal responsibility where pupils play a central role in their village community, actively supporting each other.

The Early Years Class is made up of pupils from both Follifoot and Spofforth schools. At Spofforth there are 3 classes of mixed year groups (Year 1 & 2, Year 3 & 4 and Year 5 & 6) whilst Follifoot has 2 classes: Year 1/2/3/4 and Year 5/6.

Persistent absence is a challenge in a minority of pupils for a range of external challenges and despite the ambition of school and external agencies, impact of interventions has been, so far, limited.

In a minority of classes with a small number of pupils, there are acute behavioural challenges aligned to SEND, pupil mental health and challenges in the family setting. The Federation SENCO is non class based and has recently been increased from 0.2 to 0.4 in light of growing workload and higher than numbers of undiagnosed SEND need across the Federation. There is low level disruption that needs to be consistently challenged. Reform to the curriculum at Spofforth has developed more sequential learning, however for some pupils learning is not embedded and the new Executive Headteacher will continue to develop this.

Our Staffing Team

We have a dedicated team of staff who play a pivotal helping us achieve our vision of Love, Learn, Thrive. Staff relationships are very strong in each school and increasingly strong across the Federation where parallel class teachers work together to plan units of work and lead a subject across both schools. Weekly staff meetings are joint, as are INSET days.

Historically, limited distributed leadership and restricted access to professional development have affected the depth of curriculum knowledge and subject leadership across the Federation. This has contributed to inconsistency in the quality of education and variation across subjects.

All subjects now have designated subject leaders, and a Federation‑wide programme is underway to strengthen leadership skills, build collective expertise, and drive improvements in standards. Responsibilities that previously sat with a small number of individuals are now being shared more effectively, creating a broader and more sustainable leadership structure.

While leadership in the past has often been reactive rather than strategically driven, there is now a clear focus on building strategic capacity and ensuring a consistent, high‑quality curriculum offer.

Crucially, leaders across the Federation have a strong desire to learn, are highly motivated, and are fully engaged in ongoing professional development. They are embracing new challenges and demonstrating a collective commitment to continuous improvement.

The substantive Executive Headteacher will have a key role in driving this forward. This includes considering a future staff restructure to increase Senior Leadership capacity and to limit further part time staff in order to increase capacity for subject leadership.

Current Structure:

The current interim Executive Head Teacher splits her time between the two schools. The Senior Teachers act as the DSL and deputy DSLs are clearly defined. In addition, the SEND lead is also DSL qualified. Each School has an administrator (37 hrs at Follifoot and 31 hrs at Spofforth). One of the Senior Teachers is 0.8 (Spofforth), the other is 0.8 (Follifoot). Each Senior Teacher has TLR2. (UPS2 and UPS 3).  Both of the Senior Teachers receives half day leadership time per week

The Federation SENCO is non-class based and has recently been increased from 0.2 to 0.4 in light of growing workload and higher than numbers of undiagnosed SEND need across both schools.

Each teacher leads a subject across the federation; this is an attempt to decrease workload and increase consistency across both schools. Subject leadership overall is a challenge due to the expectations of the Ofsted Framework and the high levels of part time staff.

Spofforth School:

• 4 teachers (2 x maternity leave)
• 1 x HLTA
• 3 x GTA
• 2 x GTA (SEND)
• 1 x Administrator
• 1 x Senior Administrator
• MSA x 2

Follifoot School

• 2 classes: 2 teachers (3 x fte)
• There are also 3 part time GTA

Wellbeing of Staff and Pupils

We recognise our staff as the Schools’ most valuable resource.  As stated in our mission:

‘Every member of the Federation plays a significant part in its success retaining the distinctiveness of village schools whilst working effectively as a Federation.’

In line with our vision, we look after our staff and support them using the federation effectively to nurture their skills and abilities.  We are committed to maintaining strong and well-trained practitioners within the staff team who can address specific SEMH needs and support other members of staff.

We believe that the social, emotional mental health of children and adults is of the utmost importance.  We want everyone involved in our federation family to be emotionally and mentally healthy.  This means supporting them to becoming resilient with the ability to recognise how to proactively care for their emotional health, just as they would do for their physical health. Support for mental health comes in many different forms from many different sources, all of which have value and can play a role.

We are fortunate to have trained teaching assistants who can provide 1:1 pastoral support for anxiety and emotions as well as group activities to support social and emotional difficulties with children. We have recently created a separate space for SEND pupils at Spofforth, as well as having links with the Communication and Interaction team at North Yorkshire Council who have further supported work on emotions through Zones of Regulation programme, supported by teaching assistants in class.

Read about the support and interventions accessible for our children (opens in a new tab).

Our Governing Body

We benefit from an active and skilled Governing Board who support the schools and embrace the federation principle to serve all children across both schools. The joint governing body has a range of duties and a general responsibility for the conduct of both schools with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement. Responsibilities include:

• setting and monitoring the strategic direction of the schools
• managing the school’s finances
• making sure the curriculum is balanced and broadly based
• appointing new staff
• reviewing staff performance and pay

The structure and makeup of the Federated Governing Body is set in statue:

• 2 Parent Governors-From either school (elected by the parents/carers of each school)
• 1 Staff Governor- (elected by staff from both schools)
• 1 Local Authority (LA) Governor (appointed by the Local Authority)
• 1 Head teacher Governor
• 2 Foundation Governors (appointed by the Diocese)
• 3 Co-Opted Governors

Read more about our Governing body (opens in a new tab).

Relationships with parents, carers and the local community

Parents/carers are supportive, generally engaged and have good relationships with the school and the staff.  Each school has an active and committed PTA who raise a good amount of money for their school.  There are concerns from parents/carers at Follifoot about falling pupil numbers and the longer-term future of the school.

We see the important part we play as schools in small, rural villages and, as such, there is a strong relationship between parents/carers, staff and the wider community.  We enjoy strong links with our local church, with pupils attending Church for festivals throughout the year and Collective Worship is provided at each school. The recent SIAMS review at Spofforth stated:

“Collective Worship is inspiring, welcoming and engaging.  Strong relationships between the school and local church enhance the impact of worship on pupils and adults.  The spiritual life of the school is enriched through meaningful opportunities for reflection”

We regularly run sharing assemblies for parents/carers who are also invited to church services and annual productions.  Both schools have an active school council/eco Council and both have the Fair Trade mark.

Relationship with LA and Diocese

As a Church of England school, both schools are supported by the Diocese and have a nominated Diocesan Adviser as well as good relationship with our local churches.

The federation has regular visits from the SEA. The relationship between the SEA and the current Interim Head is strong. The SEA offers support and challenge and is preparing the whole staff team.

Wider networks

The federation has a relationship with Teaching School Alliances and other school networks and partnerships.

There is also the HART Alliance that the schools are part of which come with a range of valuable CPD, school to school networks and joint projects for the Headteacher and leaders/ staff at all levels.

Since September 2021, the schools have been supported by two NLEs provided by HART who offer regular contact/advice to the head and complete HTPM.

You will benefit from a proactive and passionate Governing Board and active PTA.

Ofsted

Spofforth Ofsted – July 2022

Spofforth CE Primary School continues to be rated Good, reflecting its strong, consistent educational offer. Reading is a clear priority, with staff ensuring that pupils develop confident early literacy skills, and the school provides a well‑sequenced and clearly mapped mathematics curriculum that supports secure progress. Early Years provision is a particular strength, offering high‑quality foundations for learning. Leadership of SEND is also robust, ensuring pupils’ needs are well understood and provision is carefully adapted. Pupils benefit from strong personal development opportunities, helping them grow in confidence and character. While behaviour has been identified as an area for further improvement, the school is committed to strengthening consistency and expectations. Subject leadership is shared effectively across the Federation, supporting professional collaboration and growing curriculum expertise across both schools.

Follifoot Ofsted – July 2025

• Quality of Education - Good
• Behaviour & Attitudes – Good
• Personal Development – Good
• Leadership & management – Good

Follifoot CE Primary School is a warm and nurturing rural school where pupils feel happy, safe and proud. Inspectors highlighted the exceptionally positive relationships between pupils and staff and the strong sense of community shaped by the school’s values of love, learn and thrive. Pupils enjoy meaningful opportunities to take on leadership roles, building confidence and character, and benefit from a wide range of experiences that extend their understanding of the wider world. Teaching is ambitious and inclusive—particularly for pupils with SEND—and teachers use ongoing checks on learning to ensure pupils make strong progress. Although the school has experienced recent changes in leadership, current arrangements have brought welcome stability, with leaders and governors committed to strengthening curriculum oversight and continuing the school’s positive upward trajectory.

SIAMS

Spofforth had a successful SIAMS inspection in January 2025 and received a Judgement 1: The school is living up to its foundation as a Church of England school and us enabling pupils and adults to flourish.  Key strengths from the review included:

• The school’s clear Christian vision is understood and driven by leaders and governors, underpinning their actions and decisions. As a results, pupils and adults flourish in this welcoming, nurturing and inclusive school.
• The curriculum, shaped by the vision, is carefully planned and adapted to meet learners’ needs, enabling pupils to thrive. The is particularly evident in the school’s support and nurture of those who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
• Collective worship is inspiring, welcoming and engaging. Strong relationships between the school and local church enhance the impact of worship on pupils and adults.  The spiritual life of the school is enriched through meaningful opportunities for reflection.
• The school promotes loving relationships, where pupils and adults are welcomed, valued and feel known. Committed staff are resolute in their care, with their actions demonstrating their determination to ensure pupils have the opportunity to flourish.
• Inspired by the vision, Spofforth fosters a culture where pupils are encouraged to respect other through acts of justice and thoughtfulness. This encourages a sense of person responsibility where pupils and adults play a central role in their village, actively supporting others.

Follifoot had a successful SIAMS inspection in May 2023 and was found to be good in all areas.  The review in brief:

• SIAMS Follifoot: Christian Vision: The school's Christian vision shapes a warm, caring community where all are valued. Pupils articulate how the vision influences their lives.
• Inclusivity and Behaviour: The school has a culture of inclusivity, good behaviour, and supportive relationships, fostering dignity and respect for all.
• Learning and Spiritual Development: Learning is engaging and ambitious, but opportunities for spiritual development are not always planned.
• Collective Worship: Inclusive and invitational, reinforcing the school's vision and values. Governance is supportive but lacks regular monitoring of RE and collective worship.
• Religious Education (RE): Effectively led, with pupils enjoying and engaging in the subject, learning about Christianity and other faiths.

Read the full SIAMS and Ofsted reports for Follifoot (opens in a new tab)

Pupil achievement, attainment and progress

Please see national outcomes link for federation below:

Follifoot (opens in a new tab)

Spofforth (opens in a new tab)

Budget position

Following deconsolidation a few years ago, both schools now operate individual budgets. This provides the level of financial detail required for strong governance, transparency, and effective decision‑making.

Spofforth CE Primary School

Spofforth has a healthy brought‑forward reserve of approximately £150k, which provides a strong financial foundation. Like many schools, it is currently managing increased costs related to higher levels of SEN need, particularly the requirement for additional classroom support staff. This results in a forecast in‑year deficit of £47k for 2025/26. The school is actively pursuing additional EHCP funding, although this may not fully meet the increased cost pressures within the current funding environment.

Local demographics are positive: population trends and recent housing developments support confidence in achieving PAN in future years. There is also scope to expand the nursery provision, offering further opportunities for growth and community engagement.

Follifoot CE Primary School

Follifoot has a small brought‑forward deficit of around £5k, partly arising from the technical impact of the earlier deconsolidation process. The school’s financial position has strengthened in recent years, with small in‑year surpluses achieved following adjustments to class structures. The 2025/26 budget anticipates a return to an in‑year surplus.

Pupil intake has been affected by the demographic profile of the village; however, the school is well placed to attract more families thanks to its recent positive Ofsted outcome and enhancements such as expanded wraparound provision. The school is currently working with the Local Authority to assess the financial implications of a potential move towards a standalone Reception class, rather than the current shared arrangement with Spofforth.

While the Federation has many strengths, we are ambitious to ensure that every aspect of our provision is consistently excellent. The new Executive Headteacher will play a pivotal role in driving this next phase of improvement and securing long‑term stability across both schools.

We are focusing on tackling a number of key challenges that currently limit the pace and consistency of progress. These include addressing persistent absence in a small number of pupils, (often linked to external factors), despite proactive efforts by the schools and partner agencies. Strengthening leadership capacity across all curriculum areas is a priority, as is creating greater stability in staffing following periods of financial and leadership insecurity.

At Spofforth, recent KS2 outcomes were below national expectations for that specific cohort, and across the Federation there is a need to build a more robust and reliable evidence base to understand standards over time. This is closely linked to tackling variability in teaching quality, which has created sporadic outcomes and inconsistent progress, particularly for children working at greater depth. Low‑level disruption can arise where challenge is insufficient, and our ambition is to ensure consistently high‑quality teaching that engages all learners.

Although curriculum reform (especially at Spofforth) has strengthened sequencing, learning is not yet fully embedded for all pupils. Continued curriculum development is needed so that every subject offers a clear, progressive, and coherently sequenced structure that is delivered consistently throughout the year. Developing greater confidence and understanding in the use of internal data will also be essential to improving leaders’ ability to securely demonstrate progress over time. To achieve excellence, expectations and rigour must be consistently high across both schools, and particularly across all year groups at Spofforth.

School Partnership Improvement Plan (SPIP)

The Federation’s SPIP sets out five key performance indicators to drive improvement and secure high‑quality education across both schools:

1. Quality of Education

Embed the sequenced curriculum so it consistently improves learner progress and ensures all children know and remember more.

2. Behaviour, Attitudes and Personal Development

Embed a consistent approach to the teaching and modelling of positive behaviour and respectful relationships across both schools and the wider Federation community.

3. Leadership and Management

Ensure high‑quality leadership at every level—senior leaders, subject leaders, class teachers, pupils and governors—so that leadership has a measurable impact on the quality of education.

4. Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

Ensure EYFS provision fully reflects the ambitions of a coherently planned and sequenced curriculum.

5. Church School Distinctiveness

Strengthen the distinctively Christian ethos of the Federation so it continues to shape culture, decision‑making and daily practice.

Short and Mid-term Priorities

• Raise standards in the quality of education.
• Ensure the curriculum and provision fully meet the needs of pupils with SEND.
• Improve behaviour standards and reduce low‑level disruption.
• Secure stability in leadership and clarify the future staffing model.
• Establish EYFS provision at both schools.
• Address the in‑year deficit at Spofforth and the accrued deficit at Follifoot.
• Reduce persistent absence.
• Improve pupil numbers at Follifoot.

 Future Considerations

Due to the decline of pupil numbers and deficit budgets, the Governing Body will look for the new Executive Headteacher to consider a potential future restructure of the schools to ensure ongoing viability

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 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 ‘Grand Depart’ 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!

Travelling further afield we have convenient connectivity, with close proximity to metropolitan cities of Leeds and Newcastle, with little over two hours commute on the main train line to London. We border the Lake District, Lancashire, County Durham, and Yorkshire & Humber regions with all they have to offer.

You can find out more about what North Yorkshire has to offer on the Visit North Yorkshire website.

North Yorkshire Local Authority

North Yorkshire Council has a strong reputation for delivering high-quality services. Our Children’s Services are nationally recognised for excellence and routinely share best practice across the sector. Our teams are proud of what has been achieved and are committed to continuous improvement, ensuring services deliver real impact for children, young people and families while making effective use of public money. North Yorkshire serves a diverse and dispersed population of around 615,400 people, including 151,000 children, across more than 8,000 square kilometres. Our relationship-based “Strength in Relationships” practice model is embedded across the workforce, underpinned by strong partnership working at all levels.

We are deeply committed to ensuring children and young people are safe, happy, healthy and able to achieve within inclusive, high-quality services that value diversity and individuality. This vision is shaped by children and young people themselves, who told us that what matters most to them can be summed up in one word: Opportunity. We want life chances to be shaped by aspiration and potential, not circumstance or geography.

As the Headteacher of a North Yorkshire Local Authority (LA) maintained school, you will benefit from a comprehensive school improvement offer from the CYPS Education Standards and Inclusion team and access to a wide range of traded services designed to support you in your role. This includes:

• Participation in our ‘Welcome to North Yorkshire’ programme for new headteachers and those new to North Yorkshire, led by the School Improvement Team. The welcome team will ensure you have a clear understanding of working as a headteacher within North Yorkshire and will guide you through key aspects of headship, including Human Resources, School Finance, Governance, Health and Safety, SEND and inclusion, and safeguarding.
• Support from an experienced mentor headteacher who will work alongside you as you establish yourself into your role.
• A named Senior Education Adviser (SEA) from the School Improvement Team, who will support your school improvement journey through our core and enhanced offer. Your SEA will act as your first point of contact, helping you navigate and access wider services as needed.
• Access to specialist school improvement advisers, including experts in Safeguarding, Early Years, Religious Education, Health and Wellbeing and Governance.
• A wide range of specialist teams, traded services, training courses and resources available through North Yorkshire Education Services (NYES), including our recently launched Inclusive Mainstream Toolkit.
• Participation in termly CYPS briefings, offering opportunities to network with colleagues across both LA-maintained and academy sectors in North Yorkshire.
• Weekly LA updates via our ‘redbag’ communications, alongside comprehensive guidance available on the CYPS-info website.
• Access to the biennial Growing Up in North Yorkshire (GUNY) survey, enabling your school to gather valuable pupil voice on health, wellbeing, and educational experiences.
• Opportunities to participate in our Healthy Schools programme, supported by specialist advisers.

Our core aim and purpose is to ensure that the services and support we offer make a real difference in helping our schools improve the outcomes for the pupils in their care, delivered in the spirit of the Diocesan values of Loving Living Learning. Our areas of support include:

• Christian Distinctiveness
• Religious Education & Collective Worship
• Statutory Inspection of Church of England & Methodist Schools (SIAMS)
• School Improvement and Effectiveness
• School Leadership, including Governance
• Admissions
• A wide range of other services and support

Read about the support from Leeds Diocese (opens in a new tab).