Teaching Assistant

Forward by Vicky Loftus (Headteacher)

We are an 11-19 Comprehensive School with approximately 1,350 students on roll. We are part of The Education Alliance, a growing multi-academy trust, currently consisting of South Hunsley School and Sixth Form College, Malet Lambert School, Driffield School and Sixth Form, The Snaith School, The Hub School, Hunsley Primary School, North Cave Church of England Primary School, Wilberfoss Church of England Primary School, Howden Junior School and Yorkshire Wolds Teacher Training. We are here to make great schools and happier, stronger communities so that people have better lives. We do this by always doing what is right, trusting each other and standing shoulder to shoulder and doing what we know makes the difference. Doing what is right means always acting with integrity, in the interests of others and being honest, open and transparent.

Driffield School and Sixth Form is a friendly and supportive school and we do everything we can to ensure that every individual child receives the care, support and guidance they need to thrive and be the best they can be. Our fantastic team of hardworking and caring staff are fundamental to this success and we invest heavily in professional development to enable our staff to flourish, continually develop and access in-house career opportunities. We have a long tradition of being an inclusive and supportive school and our aim is for all students and staff to enjoy learning, experience success and develop their full potential. Our Be Well Programme was introduced in September 2019 and provides a comprehensive package of well-being and mental health support for all our students, parents/caregivers and staff. Further details are available in the general details section below.

Staff, governors, students and members of the community have worked together to create a vision of the key qualities and values they would like to see in the school:

Believe ● Achieve

A proud and confident community: achieving success through trust and respectful relationships.

As this dynamic vision statement illustrates, it is an exciting time for the school which has enormous potential.

The hard work of staff and students has resulted in a record number of the highest grades at Driffield School and Sixth Form in 2023. At A Level, 45% of our students achieved A* to B grades and 74% A* to C grades. 16% of all grades were A* or A. We are really proud of our students' efforts and achievements and this year saw a wonderful set of results for students who can now move successfully into employment, apprenticeships and further study in Higher Education after a 99% pass rate.

The majority of our students gained their first choice of university with a high proportion securing a place at one of the prestigious Russell Group universities. A record number of students have also successfully graduated from our MEDSOC programme, securing a place to study medicine at university.

Our Basics measures at GCSE continue to improve year on year, with 64% of students achieving at least a standard pass in both English and Maths and 46% achieving a strong pass or above in English and Maths. The percentage of students achieving at least a grade 4 is above the national average in all core subjects. Alongside the strong performance in the core subjects, our students excel in the arts. Our art, music and drama departments all saw over a quarter of students achieving the highest grades of 7, 8 or 9 in 2023.

Our facilities have been designed to ensure the environment promotes learning and these include a purpose built Art and Technology building and a state of the art Performing Arts block. A £1.2 million investment has recently been completed to update the school’s North Building and the energy efficiencies this will create will be reinvested into teaching and learning. All our facilities are actively used by the local community outside school hours. We also have access to the East Riding Leisure Centre which is adjacent to the school site and is equipped with the latest fitness equipment for the benefit of staff and students. The school is also able to use residential facilities at Spiers Bank House, an ex-forestry commission house located near Pickering in the North York Moors. This provides a fantastic resource for the development of students’ outdoor experiences as well as personal development. Our school prospectus can be accessed here.

Driffield is at the heart of the Yorkshire Wolds and has recently been named by The Times as one of the best places to live in the North of England.

We are proud of our school and welcome the opportunity to show prospective staff, who are interested in any current vacancies, around the site.