Aireville School in Skipton is looking ahead to an exciting future, with confirmation of its academy status and the imminent announcement of a new head.
The school, which last year was put into special measures for the second time, will officially become an academy at the start of the new school year in September.
Aireville will form a partnership with the newly formed Craven Educational Trust (CET) at Craven College.
It will also work with South Craven School, part of The Red Kite Alliance, and North Yorkshire County Council, to push up standards and move it out of special measures.
The school has been under the temporary leadership of acting headteacher Helen Woodcock, from South Craven School, following the illness of headteacher, Mark O’Neill. It will shortly announce a replacement principal, who is also due to start in September.
Antony Booth, chairman of governors, said the move to academy status had taken a lot of time and hard work, with more to come.
“I am happy to say that the governors are delighted with the move to academy status and I would like to thank the teams at Craven College, South Craven School and Helen Woodcock, and the staff of Aireville, as well as the local authority, for the tireless work that has been done to secure the future of Aireville School as Skipton’s most recent academy,” he said.
Aireville Academy will be officially sponsored by specially created CET.
Its chairman is Alan Halsall, chairman and owner of Broughton-based Silver Cross prams, and directors are David Cutter, chief executive of Skipton Building Society, and Robert Bellfield, principal of Craven College.
Mr Halsall. said: “The trust is confident that the recent leadership work of the acting headteacher, and the new appointment of a permanent principal for September, will allow the further development of a very successful and vibrant academy to provide a first class education for the young people of Skipton, meeting the expectations of local employers and the community.”
Aireville School was placed into special measures last July - for the second time in ten years. Ofsted inspectors judged it to be inadequate in all areas, apart from the behaviour of pupils, which received a “good” rating.
Since November, Ms Woodcock and a team of senior leaders and staff have been working to tackle the issues.
North Yorkshire county councillor Arthur Baker, executive member for schools, said: “The acting headteacher at Aireville, working with the local authority, is already making great strides in raising standards and we believe that as an academy and under new leadership from September, the school can be confident of a secure future in providing the highest quality of education for all students.”
Ms Woodcock, deputy head at South Craven School, is due to leave Aireville at the end of the school year to become headteacher at Rossett School in Harrogate.
A new principal for Aireville has been selected by the school’s governing body following confirmation that Mr O’Neill would not be returning following a long period of ill health.
The identity of the new principal is expected to be revealed shortly.