A RECENTLY-APPOINTED principal hopes a new building heralds a fresh start for her school.

Grangefield Academy’s three storey building, which has been funded by the Education Funding Agency through the Priority Schools Building Programme, can accommodate 1,050 students and has been under construction on the site of the former Grangefield Academy since October 2014.

Designed to meet the needs of human scale education – sometimes known as the ‘schools within school’ model - the thinking behind this type of teaching is to develop small learning communities within large schools so that each year group can remain in a dedicated area for most of their time in secondary education, with their own set of teachers. Students are only required to leave their school to attend lessons in PE, technology, music, art and drama. All other lessons are delivered by a team of teachers working with the head of school.

At Stockton-based Grangefield Academy, which opened after Easter, this has led to its five year groups being given aspirational names Discovery, Ignite, Innovation, Pioneer and Revolution. Each school also has its own colour scheme as well as its own front door and staircase.

The accommodation comprises seven science labs, four specialist IT studios, two resistant materials labs, two food technology labs, a textile lab, a graphics studio, two art and design rooms, a music suite, a drama suite, a sports hall, an activity studio and a main hall.

Principal, Nikki Gibb, said: “The original school built on the adjacent site was a grammar school and it used to have a very good reputation. I am committed to restoring that tradition of achievement and want to see every Grangefield Academy student with high aspirations. We are on a journey of significant improvement.

“We have the highest number of new year seven students entering the school for many years in September and I expect this to continue improving, year on year, as we leave a more challenging period behind us. Our GCSE results have improved steadily over the last few years and this year we hope to improve further. We are on a journey to becoming an outstanding school.

“The ‘schools within school’ model is a great differentiator for us. It allows academic progress to be more easily evaluated and any information gaps identified and addressed with tailor made academic or welfare support. Teachers maximise their quality of engagement and quantity of time spent with the students, by remaining standing throughout every lesson.

“It is very definitely the start of a new and exciting chapter, both for me and The Grangefield Academy.”