Teacher of Design & Technology

Millom School is a small 11-18 community school and an established sixth form. We regard ourselves as a learning community and understand the importance of investing in our colleagues as well as our students. The school plays a central role in the local community. Our priorities for this year are Take Part, Read More and Better Learner.

We provide a friendly, supportive, and structured environment, in which students are given every opportunity to flourish. We have a commitment to professional development for staff and a culture of change and improvement with strong support from senior leadership and the governing body. We are proud of our school, our staff, and our students, and are ambitious for the future. In the immediate locality Millom School plays a key role in the Partnership of Millom Schools, working closely with our feeder primary schools to ensure a positive transition for our students.

The School serves the small town of Millom (pop. about 7,000) and a wide rural catchment area extending to the north and west for some thirty miles along the Cumbrian coast and into the Lakeland fells. Local housing in the attractive surrounding countryside is generally affordable. It is the only secondary school in the area and is part of the Furness Educational Consortium, which includes secondary schools, Barrow Sixth Form College and Furness College.

OFSTED have recognised our broad and ambitious curriculum which is well planned and innovative and with a degree of personalised learning. In Key Stage 4 the school has introduced a number of alternative courses and accreditations in conjunction with GCSEs. These are presented to the students as 14-19 courses and they offer automatic progression to AS/A2 or Level 3 vocational courses. The Post-16 curriculum includes a range of A-level and BTEC subjects.

Outcomes for learners have risen significantly in recent years. The school was last inspected in May 2022 and was judged to be “Good”. OFSTED confirmed what we already knew - that we have high expectations of all of our students, that we have ambition for all of our students and that students are well prepared to take the next steps in their lives when they leave us. The full report is available on Ofsted’s or the school’s web site.

We are not complacent and continually look for innovative ways to improve the school for students and staff. One example of this is the enrichment programme which has been introduced this year. This involves all students taking part in extra-curricular activities, both on site and off site, on Wednesday afternoons and they change activity every half term. We believe that, following the disruption to education caused by the pandemic, students need to have equality of access to extra-curricular activities. Students experience these in mixed age groups which is designed to bring the school community together. Staff have planned a six-week programme focussing on the development of soft skills and the attributes of the Millom Learner.

Student Support

The student support team’s brief is to focus on the pastoral aspects of students’ experiences at school, by assisting students who have difficulties in lessons, either with learning or behaviour. They listen and provide advice and support and work alongside parents and a range of other outside agencies.

Governance

The school has a large and active governing body. The governing body includes parents, local councillors, business people and residents from Millom and the surrounding area. Senior students and members of the senior leadership team are associate governors.