Welcome from Co-Headteachers
We feel very proud and privileged to be Co-Headteachers of The Duchess’s Community High School. This school is of great significance in the local community, being one of the oldest schools in the North East, founded some 215 years ago by the then Duchess of Northumberland on the principle of giving the young people of Alnwick a good education; this mission is still true to this day.
Our values are about Building Relationships and Inspiring Success for our students and for our wider local community. To make this a reality we are focused on ensuring our students are not only fully supported, but also challenged to push themselves beyond what they may think they are capable of. This includes opportunities and experiences that may not normally be afforded to them. We want to give our students the very best start in life. We aim to be a school where children want to be.
High quality classroom practice and breadth of curriculum are core to this and we ensure that our dedicated staff are provided with the right training and development so they can be the best they can. We invest in our staff to ensure that they too are constantly learning and developing, whether that be by achieving nationally recognised qualifications such as the NPQs, or by investing in online packages of CPD such as the National College. We have a family-feel to the staff body with many staff members living in the school community, something we are inherently proud of. We aim to be a school where staff want to work.
Our catchment is the second largest in the United Kingdom, whilst 215 years ago the school served the local town, now, over 1000 students travel to school on the bus. We are therefore uniquely placed in order to support every area of North Northumberland. We have a thriving charitable body that works with the school in order to support the wider community, over the last few years, the Trust has facilitated experiences and equipment purchasing totalling nearly £100k. We engage in community events, and hold fortnightly meetings with community leaders in order to share information and celebrate success. We aim to be a school where ‘community’ works.
We would love you to come and visit us, speak to staff and students and get a feel for what life is like at The Duchess’s Community High School.