Stokesley Primary School

Stokesley Primary is a larger than average school situated in a thriving North Yorkshire market town.

I was appointed Head Teacher in 2006 at a time of change within the town which affected the school’s demographic. Over a period of five years deprivation factors increased significantly. Free School Meals percentage rose from 8% to nearly 40% and our population of Gypsy Romany Traveller pupils increased from 2% to 11%. The school commissioned a deprivation assessment of its catchment in 2011. Results from the study revealed that 42% of our intake lived in the highest quintile of deprivation and 42% in the lowest. This shift in context alongside a reflective fall in attainment and inspection judgement, led to necessary change in our approach. It was obvious that a standardised approach to delivery was oblique to the needs of a far from standard population of increasing diversity. It was decided that innovation was a necessity rather than a luxuriant option.