Primary Director of Education

About Castleford Academy

‘Care’ ‘Aspire’ ‘Succeed’

Castleford Academy is an exceptional over-subscribed 11-19 school catering for over 1,400 pupils. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum, we are proud of our achievements and firm commitment to providing an excellent education for all. Our expectations are high and this is reflected in our successful academic record. Leaders challenge and support all stakeholders to achieve outstanding outcomes for all pupils across the MAT. We value and develop our staff by attracting and retaining high quality staff, supporting staff to achieve their best and create opportunities for professional growth and development.

Since its launch, our progress 8 score has been significantly above national average. In 2019 our progress 8 score was +0.40, which demonstrates that we are significantly outperforming other schools nationally and that on average pupils at Castleford Academy achieved almost half a grade higher than expected in their subjects.  We are regularly placed in the top 10% of schools nationally. Although our headline measures are outstanding, behind this lies the hard work and dedication of all of the students, staff and support from parents, which made these results possible. The staff worked tirelessly with students and the students spent a great deal of time in extra revision sessions where we had the much needed support of our parents.

The majority of our subjects consistently achieve an ALPS grade of 3 or higher, placing them in the top 25% of schools nationally.

The Academy was the first secondary school in the country to receive an 'Outstanding' grading from Ofsted in September 2019 under their new framework.  The inspectors were so pleased with the education the academy provides that they not only awarded 'outstanding' for overall effectiveness but also for all other areas as well. (quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and sixth-form).

Inspectors noted, "Castleford Academy is an exciting place to learn. Pupils follow a fulfilling curriculum. They gain deep knowledge and understanding across a wide range of subjects. Pupils achieve exceptionally well in mathematics and science. Their progress across many other subjects is very strong. Leaders prepare pupils thoughtfully for their next steps in life."

Not only is the Academy well resourced in all areas to support staff in their teaching but staff wellbeing is also important to us too.  Reducing workload is a constant priority for leaders with unnecessary workload and meetings reduced wherever possible as well as a commitment to providing time when extra tasks are requested.  Staff receive a comprehensive and bespoke annual CPD programme as well as an offer of a suite of wellbeing opportunities and social activities. There is a state of the art Sports Hall & Fitness Suite offering superb facilities for both pupils, staff and the local community and on-going maintenance ensures a high quality learning environment for pupils. Our in-house catering team provide a vast range of delicious snacks and main meals for staff and pupils.  Plus much much more……….

We believe in a healthy work-life balance and have many support mechanisms to make sure this is the case.  At the same time we expect all our staff to be fully committed to improving the lives of the children in the Castleford community.

Castleford Academy has fantastic pupils, staff and modern facilities. There is a wide range of technological resources available for staff to complement their teaching or personal development such as computer rooms, laptops, tablets, IRIS Lesson Observation System, media suite with greenscreen and meeting rooms.

Castleford Academy is 5 minutes from the M62 and the Academy is just a 25 minute drive from Leeds, Wakefield, Doncaster and York.  There is easy access to the A1 and M62 and we have staff working for us from as far as Huddersfield, Harrogate, North Leeds, Barnsley and Sheffield.

Interested in working here?

We welcome the opportunity for visitors to come and have a look around.  If you think this is the sort of school you would like to be part of and would like to visit us to see for yourself, please contact recruitment@castlefordacademy.com to arrange a suitable time.

Castleford Academy is committed to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. For all positions at Castleford Academy you are required to complete an enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check prior to appointment.