A COUNTY Durham school has received strong results from its latest Government inspection following years of unprecedented growth.
Government inspectors visited Staindrop Academy in July, and found the school to be at ‘Strong standard’ for both Inclusion and Personal Development and Wellbeing, and at ‘Expected standard’ in all other areas.
Writing to parents, headteacher Sarah Mitchinson said she was “extremely pleased” with the inspector’s findings.
“Over the past four years, our school community has worked tirelessly to improve outcomes and opportunities for young people across Staindrop, Teesdale and the wider Bishop Auckland area,” she said.
“Our ethos of ‘Your Child is Our Child’ is at the heart of everything we do. This commitment is lived and demonstrated every day through the care, support and opportunities we provide for all our students.
“We are proud to serve families from Staindrop, the surrounding villages and further afield.”
Pupils Ben, Heather, Oscar, Emma, and Liv, with headteacher Sarah Mitchinson and deputy head Chris Hughes (Image: Chris Barron)
She welcomed inspectors’ findings on the way the school cares for pupils’ wellbeing – in particular, through its enrichment programme, which provides additional opportunities including drama productions, fly fishing, podcast recording, and jewellery making, alongside more traditional activities.
Inspectors also praised the school’s attitude towards students with additional needs, writing: “Staff provide extra support for pupils who need it, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities."
This was Mrs Mitchinson’s first Ofsted inspection since becoming head in 2022, and the Advance Learning Partnership school has grown dramatically in that time, going from 350 pupils to more than 530.
“There is still this mistaken perception that Staindrop Academy is ‘an easy school to get into’ with a lot of free spaces, though in reality we’re now oversubscribed,” explained Mrs Mitchinson.
“But despite our growth, we’re very proud to say that when they leave us, every pupil who possibly can still goes on to either employment, training, or further education.”
She went on to thank the students, their families, the Advance Learning Partnership, school staff and governors, and the local community for its support.
The report identified just two areas for continued development, both intended to build upon work already underway: for the school to continue its focus on improving attendance – particularly through targeted support for pupils who are persistently absent – and for leaders to continue strengthening improvements made to the curriculum, teaching, and assessment across all subjects.
But Mrs Mitchinson asserts that this is already on track: “The inspection took place before we saw how well pupils did in their exams, which I think provides strong evidence that these measures are well underway.”