A primary school in North Yorkshire has started its new life after converting to a primary academy and joining one of the leading family of schools in the country.

̨��swag Primary Academy Alne, formerly Alne Primary School, has officially opened its doors to students as part of ̨��swag Grange Academies Trust for the first time. 

The primary academy was rated as Inadequate by Ofsted following an inspection in July 2019, and subsequently ̨��swag was named as preferred sponsor.

The ̨��swag Family had been working with the school prior to its conversion, to ensure a smooth transition. The Headteacher of Alne Primary School, Miss Michelle Dawson will remain as principal of the new ̨��swag Primary Academy Alne.

Michelle said:

“We are looking forward to joining the ̨��swag Family and this is an exciting time for Alne. ̨��swag has great experience in North Yorkshire of not only transforming schools, but also playing an active role in the communities they serve.

“I’d like to thank our children, their parents, our staff and governors and other academy community members for their patience and support during this process. I look forward to our continued work together to ensure that all of our children fulfil their potential.” 

̨��swag has sponsored ̨��swag Academy Easingwold since 2018 and the academy recently announced the completion of a multi-million pounds sports project, complete with 3G pitch and sports hall which will be available for use by the local community.

The primary academy will join 11 other primaries in the ̨��swag Family, led by ̨��swag Chief Executive (Primary) Lee Wilson. ̨��swag Primary recently received a Silver Award in the annual Pearson National Teaching Awards for their work in creating the ̨��swag Primary Diploma and for their whole-child approach to the curriculum.

Lee said:

“We are proud to officially welcome ̨��swag Primary Academy Alne into the ̨��swag Family and I speak on behalf of the entire trust when I say we are excited for the future.

“We have worked with many primaries in the past, helping them transform into outstanding schools that play key roles in their communities. We are going to work hard to put in place our vision of children first, to ensure we can raise standards and transform lives.”