Admission Arrangements
Our Admissions Policy is available through the policy section of our website using the drop down menu on the main page. If you are interested in a place for your son / daughter please contact the School.
Ofsted Reports
You can access our most recent Ofsted Report through the Performance drop down on the Samuel King’s page on our
Alston Moor Federation website. The School was designated as ‘good’ when last inspected in July 2022.
The full OFSTED inspection report for Samuel King's School can be found on the following link:
https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/112378
To download the SKS inspection report follow the link below:
https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50195351
Assessment Results
An examination result break down, like the Ofsted Report, is available through the Performance drop down of the Samuel King’s page on our Alston Moor Federation website. In terms of headline figures last summer:
- We achieved a Progress 8 score of +0.55 in 2023.
- The Attainment 8 score was 44.4 in 2023
- 26% of students gained good passes in both English and Maths.
- The English Baccalaureate was achieved by 3.35% of students.
- 100% of students who left us in June 2024 remain in full time education, training or employment.
2024 Examination Data will be published shortly once validated following remarks.
To view the full performance review of Samuel King's School for 2023 follow the link below:
https://www.find-school-performance-data.service.gov.uk/school/112378/samuel-king%27s-school
16-19 Results
Samuel King’s is an 11-16 school with students leaving aged 16 at the end of Year 11. Consequently we do not have any Federation 16-19 results to report. However, we do keep track of our students at their Colleges, Sixth Forms and beyond. It’s always good to catch up with how things are going for them.
Performance Tables
Government performance tables are another guide to student achievement. You can access them through the drop down menu of the ‘Performance’ section of the Samuel King’s page of our website. The School did well last year in relation to other Cumbrian schools, achieving a positive Progress 8 score of +0.29.
To view the school performance data from the DfE website use the link below:
https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50195351
Curriculum
Our curriculum, has undergone a significant review and currently has the following structure.
It is delivered through a weekly timetable of 25 lessons. Each lesson is 60 minutes long.
Students in Years 7/8/9 have the following number of lessons in their various subjects each week:
English – 3 lessons
Maths – 3 lessons
Science – 3 lessons
Languages (French/German) – 2 lessons
Humanities (History / Geography) – 4 lessons
Art & Design Technology – 2 lessons
Catering – 1 lesson
Citizenship – 1 lesson
Computing – 1 lesson
Performing Arts – 1 lessons
Physical Education – 2 lessons
Performing Arts/ Music – 2 lessons
RPE – 1 lesson
We run different GCSE options courses over two years. This means that currently our teenagers are able to take up to four options alongside their English, Maths and Science.
English – 4 lessons
Maths – 4 lessons
Science – 6 lessons
Option 1 – 4 lessons
Option 2 – 4 lessons
Physical Education – 2 lessons
Personal, Health & Social Education – 1 lesson
Behaviour Policy
You can access our Outstanding Behaviour Policy here. As with many of our other policies, you will find that it details the sorts of things people should do to make this policy work effectively – including students and parents. Staff are encouraged to apply both rewards and sanctions. But the policy is also very clear that while staff should be ‘assertive’, aggression will not be tolerated.
School Complaints Procedure
You can find our Complaints Policy here. If something is concerning you, we very much want to know about it and will do everything that we can to resolve any situations.
Pupil Premium
Please see the Pupil Premium Strategy here.
PE & Sport Premium for Primary Schools
As a secondary school, Samuel King’s is not in receipt of any PE & Sport Premium. However, the Federation’s two primary schools do receive this funding. Information about its allocation can be found here.
SEN and Disability Information
The School welcomes students with designated Special Needs, and will prioritise places for students out of catchment should the Local Authority deem a place with us to be in an SEN youngster’s best interests. Currently we have seventeen students on the SEN Register.
We do everything we can to ensure that such children are treated no less favourably than any other students and have developed an Intervention Policy to help up to identify and support their particular needs. You will find this policy here. It has a clear aim, ‘to apply the interventions needed to help students falling behind expected levels of progress to meet their targets’. This aim is then realised through three objectives:
- To maintain the SEN and Gifted & Talented Registers.
- To update the Intervention Register each half term with the names of:
- G&T and SEN children currently well below national expectations for their age in one or more of the three assessment strands: reading; writing; and Mathematics;
- and children who have joined the school within the last half term.
- To apply appropriate interventions to boost the progress of students on the Intervention Register, monitoring assessment results to check that gaps between current & expected levels / grades are narrowing.
We apply a range of interventions to support youngsters with SEN including in class support; withdrawal of literacy and/or numeracy boosting; and bespoke curriculum arrangements at particular times in their day / week.
The Governing Body is committed to providing equal access to students with SEN and/or disabilities and many of the interventions listed above are designed to do just this. We do have an issue with access between floors other than by stairs. Currently we would have to relocate lessons if a student was unable to use the stairs. We are in the first stages of discussions with the LA about the possible development of all age facilities on our site. As any plans develop we will be committed to achieving compliance with relevant DDA legislation.
Alston Moor Federation SENCo - Claire Reed - creed@alston.cumbria.sch.uk
Governors Information and Duties
Information about our Governors can be found under the Governor Zone drop down on the Alston Moor Federation home page.
Charging and Remission Policies
A copy of our Charging Policy is available here. For more information contact Hollie Parradine in the School Office.
Aims, Values and Ethos
We develop our ethos through the aims and values published in our annual Improvement Plans and they provide an important focus for our work. You will find the Improvement Plans on our website. This year’s Aim for our secondary school is:
‘To utilize the changing national agenda as a vehicle to continue to develop the very best quality of education at our secondary school.’
Our values as outlined in the current Improvement Plan are:
- Our Pupils: they are central to everything that we do; we want them to be happy at school, to be confident, respectful and supportive of each other, enthusiastic to learn, and for them to thrive, achieve and succeed.
- Our Families: the contribution they can make to their children’s learning and progress is invaluable; we do everything we can to make them feel welcome and to help them fulfil their key role.
- The Wider Community: we are keen to further develop our links with local businesses and the voluntary sector, widening the range of opportunities available to our pupils by tapping into local people’s skills and experiences whenever possible.
- Partnership Working: our Federation exemplifies the importance of partnership working; on top of this, our on-going development is underpinned by links with other schools through the CASL and LASL as well as the Local Authority and its various agencies.
- Our place within the UK: we want children to appreciate the uniqueness of the environment in which they live; but we also want them to be in sympathy with British values and to be aware of and excited about the opportunities presented to them as citizens of the United Kingdom.
Requests for Paper Copies
Please telephone Hollie Parradine in the school office (01434 381236) or email (alstonoffice@alston.cumbria.sch.uk) for paper copies of any of the information included within our website.
Financial Information
https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/school/detail?urn=112378
Here you can view the school’s income, expenditure and balances as well as compare these with other maintained schools and academies. The information on the website is updated annually by the DfE using the Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) statements that are submitted by the school to the DfE annually.
Reporting of Salaries of High Paid Staff
All local authority maintained schools are required to publish annually on their website the number of individuals (if any) earning over £100k a year. As at 01.09.2024 no staff earn more than £100k a year.
