As Headteacher, l am extremely proud to be serving the community of Longfield and the surrounding area. I have led four other schools, steering one to outstanding which led to me becoming a National Leader of Education, one from requires improvement to good, and another that became the highest achieving school in the county.
Since my arrival in April 2022, I have implemented many changes to support Longfield Academy on its journey to becoming a place of outstanding educational provision. Our monitoring visit in February 2023 demonstrates the changes we have made in a short space of time. My ultimate goal is to ensure that Darlington and the Longfield area, has an outstanding school at the heart of its community.
Our ethos and values are based on the statement “Achieving Excellence with Care”.
In practice this means that: every action undertaken by every member of staff is implemented with the sole intention of improving the future life chances and wellbeing of our children.
It is my belief that all children should be encouraged to adopt behaviours that support learning and promote good relationships.
Poor behaviour and low-level disruption threaten the right of young people to have an effective education within a safe and happy environment. Our ‘Choices of Behaviour Policy’ seeks to encourage young people to make positive choices and re-enforces those choices through praise.
Our priority for 2023 and beyond, is to ensure our academic achievements continue to demonstrate that we improve the future life chances of our children, complemented by a strong desire to support the development of the whole child through our Pledges, Life Curriculum and Enrichment programmes.
We have implemented many strategies since April 2022 to ensure Longfield Academy provides an excellent education for your child, including new policies and procedures for supporting our most vulnerable learners.
Children with Special Educational Needs are a high priority, and we have developed a Personalised Learning Centre to support additional need. We have increased the number of Educational Health Care Plans and support our most vulnerable with a wide range of intervention strategies.
We believe that Longfield Academy is a great school and with the support of parents / carers and the local community, we will ensure we offer a fantastic provision for all of our children.
Please accept my offer of an open invitation to visit us, anytime, to experience the academy first-hand.
Mrs A. Sweeten
Headteacher
