The Snaith School Review 2026, a TEAL academy with a strong personal development spine

There is a clear sense of momentum at The Snaith School. The curriculum has been deliberately reshaped so students keep a broad range of subjects through to the end of Year 9, rather than narrowing early, and the school’s personal development work is structured around APEX, Achieving Personal Excellence, rather than being left to occasional drop-down days.

Leadership continuity matters here. Heather Yates was appointed headteacher with a start date of 01 September 2023, following a national recruitment process and an internal promotion from the senior team. That context helps explain the school’s emphasis on consistency, clear expectations, and a trust-wide approach to wellbeing support through TEAL’s Be Well programme.

Academically, outcomes sit broadly in line with the middle band of schools in England, with progress measures that suggest students typically move forward from their starting points. Competition for places is handled through the Local Authority coordinated process for Year 7 entry.

The school’s ethos is set up to be practical rather than aspirational. Students are expected to understand what good conduct looks like in lessons and around site, and the school has invested time in making behaviour routines clearer and more consistent. That is paired with a pastoral model that tries to keep families informed, especially where concerns such as bullying are reported, even while acknowledging that communication has not always landed quickly enough for every family.

Personal development is not treated as an add-on. APEX, Achieving Personal Excellence, is presented as a weekly, mapped curriculum that covers relationships and sex education, wellbeing, British values, and preparation for adult life. The framing is deliberately skills-based, for example self-awareness, teamwork, and managing risk, rather than simply “assemblies plus posters”.

Being part of The Education Alliance (TEAL) shapes how improvement happens. Subject and pastoral teams work across the trust, and staff talk about workload and wellbeing in a structured way, including a trust-wide charter approach. The net effect for families is a school that tends to prioritise steady systems and shared practice, rather than constant reinvention.

A short note on history. The school traces its roots back to 1899, so while it is an academy today, it has long-standing local recognition in Snaith and the surrounding villages.

For GCSE outcomes, the school is ranked 1,806th in England (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), and 1st in the Goole area. This level of performance is broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile), which will feel reassuring to families seeking solid, dependable outcomes rather than extreme highs or lows.

The 2024 Attainment 8 score is 46.7. Progress 8 is 0.21, indicating that students, on average, make above-average progress from their starting points. EBacc average point score is 4.11, close to the England figure of 4.08.

What this means in practice is that outcomes are generally supported by a model that emphasises curriculum sequencing, subject leadership, and improved consistency in how classrooms run. The school also places weight on reading identification and targeted support for students who need it, which can make a meaningful difference to access across the full curriculum.

Parents comparing local options can use the FindMySchool Local Hub comparison tool to view GCSE performance indicators side-by-side with nearby schools.

Key Stage 3 is designed to stay broad through Year 9. The school moved away from an earlier model in which options were taken at the end of Year 8, explicitly to avoid narrowing students’ education too soon. The later decision point gives students more time to secure foundations across humanities, arts, and languages before GCSE choices begin.

Curriculum development is not left to individual departments working in isolation. Departments collaborate within the trust, and meetings focus on how specific content is taught, not just what is covered. That matters because it tends to produce more consistent experiences across classes and year groups, and it supports students with additional needs through clearer teaching routines and shared approaches.

Assessment is a current workstream rather than a finished product. In some areas, longer-term assessment approaches were not fully aligned to newer curriculum plans at the time of the last inspection, which limited how far leaders could evaluate impact beyond checking whether agreed classroom approaches were being used. Families who care about how quickly teaching practices translate into secure learning may want to ask how this has developed since 2022.

This is an 11 to 16 school, so transition planning is about routes after GCSE. The school’s published materials emphasise careers education from Year 7 to Year 11, including encounters with post-16 providers and a structured programme embedded through APEX as well as subject teaching.

For most families, the practical question is which post-16 pathway fits best, sixth form, college, apprenticeships, or employment with training. The school’s approach is to expose students to options early and repeat that exposure in an age-appropriate way. In Year 9 and Year 10, that can mean early guidance around GCSE choices linked to longer-term direction; in Year 11 it becomes more specific, including preparation for interviews, applications, and next-step decision-making.

Because the school does not publish a single headline destination statistic, it is sensible for parents of older students to ask for current information about local post-16 progression routes, typical partner providers, and how the school supports applications for competitive programmes.

Year 7 applications are made through the Local Authority coordinated process, rather than directly to the school. For September 2026 entry, the published closing date for secondary applications is 31 October 2025. Offers are issued on National Offer Day, which for this round falls on 02 March 2026.

The school states that there is no supplementary information form for admission, which keeps the process straightforward for families. Appeals for September 2026 entry are planned in the May to June 2026 period, with an appeal form deadline of 17 April 2026.

Open events are treated as part of the transition cycle. A Year 6 open evening for the September 2026 intake was scheduled for 25 September 2025, and the school publishes transition support and dates on its site. For the 2026 transition cycle, dates are published as 08 to 10 July 2026.

If you are weighing a move primarily for admissions reasons, it is worth using FindMySchoolMap Search to check travel practicality and compare likely journeys, since admissions criteria and applicant patterns can change year to year.

Pastoral care is framed around two layers. The first is the day-to-day behavioural consistency that makes classrooms feel orderly and safe for learning, including clearer expectations and a policy designed to reduce inconsistency across staff. The second is the additional support architecture around wellbeing and safeguarding.

The school sits within TEAL’s Be Well programme, which is positioned as an additional mental health and wellbeing resource for students, families, and staff across the trust. This matters because it signals that wellbeing support is planned and resourced at trust level, not dependent on one individual member of staff.

Bullying is described as uncommon, and students are encouraged to report concerns. One area to watch, based on formal findings, is the speed and consistency with which follow-up actions are communicated to families, particularly where incidents have been reported and families want reassurance that the situation has improved.

The latest Ofsted inspection (04 to 05 May 2022) confirmed the school continues to be Good, and safeguarding arrangements were judged effective.

Extracurricular activity is presented as part of students’ personal growth rather than a separate bolt-on. Sport is supported by tangible facilities, including a 3G pitch, sports hall and gym, which allows for a consistent programme across seasons rather than relying solely on outdoor conditions.

The club programme includes a mixture of practical and creative options. Examples listed in published schedules include Duke of Edinburgh groups, Chamber Choir, year-group bands, darts club, table tennis, badminton, and football training on the 3G pitch. The implication for families is straightforward: students who are not naturally drawn to conventional team sports can still find structured activities that suit different personalities, including music ensembles and indoor clubs.

STEM and digital interest is acknowledged through a STEM science club and an electronic games club, which is often an effective engagement tool for students who connect more strongly through problem-solving, coding-adjacent interest, or structured social play. Drama and music clubs are also explicitly referenced by the school, alongside productions and concerts as part of school life.

The best indicator of fit is to look at how your child is likely to use this offer. A student who thrives with routine, enjoys structured clubs, and benefits from a clear programme of personal development will likely take more from the school than a student who needs a highly specialised niche offer that the school does not claim to provide.

The published school-day timings indicate students are expected on site by 8:45am, with teaching periods running through to a 3:15pm finish. Lunch and break timings vary slightly between Year 7, 8 and 11, and Year 9 and 10.

For travel, Snaith has a rail station managed by Northern, although services are limited, so many families will rely on local bus routes and car journeys for day-to-day transport. The school also uses its sports facilities for lettings, which is often a proxy for how intensively the site is used beyond the core day.

• Inspection currency. The most recent published inspection is May 2022. It remains relevant, but families may want to ask what has changed since, particularly around assessment alignment and communication in bullying follow-up.

• Behaviour hotspots. Lessons are described as orderly, but social spaces can be more variable, with toilets flagged as an area where poor behaviour sometimes occurred. Ask how supervision and routines are managed now.

• Post-16 planning matters. With no sixth form, families should look early at local post-16 options and ask how the school supports competitive pathways, including apprenticeships and selective college routes.

• Open-event timing. Open evenings and transition activities follow a calendar rhythm, commonly in September for open events and early July for transition days, so missing that window can make it harder to get a feel for the school at the right time.

The Snaith School is a well-organised, community-rooted 11 to 16 academy with a clear curriculum structure through Year 9 and a defined personal development programme through APEX. Its academic outcomes sit broadly in line with the middle band of schools in England, with progress measures that suggest students generally move forward well from their starting points.

Who it suits: families who want a structured, systems-led secondary experience, with consistent expectations, a visible wellbeing offer through the trust, and a practical approach to preparing students for GCSEs and post-16 pathways.