Hawes Primary is a small school, part of the YCAT family of 9 schools, situated on the edge of the market town of Hawes in a stunning setting at the top of Wensleydale and within the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The roll, currently 56 pupils, is divided between 3 classes: Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery/Reception) and Key Stage 1 (Y1/2); Lower Key Stage 2 (Y3/4); and Upper Key Stage 2 (Y5/6). Our Key Stage 2 classes sometimes come together for lessons, such as our Friday sports afternoon. The school serves both the small town of Hawes and surrounding rural areas. Some pupils travel from outside the catchment area. Currently, 9% of our pupils have English as a second language; 9% are in receipt of the pupil premium; 11% are on our Special Needs Register.

Our senior leadership in school is shared between a full-time Head of School (Miss Andrea Caygill) and a part-time Executive Head teacher (Mrs Andrea Walker), who is a former National Leader of Education and an LA adviser who also supports other schools across and beyond the Trust, sharing best practice and contributing to the wider self-improving school system. Although we are a small school, as part of YCAT, we benefit from the synergy which comes from being part of something bigger. The Trust is built on a passionate belief in collaborative approaches to learning and provides us with a range of expertise, experience, support networks and opportunities to work together. We also regularly join with other small rural primaries in the Wensleydale Cluster to share opportunities, such as sports, cultural events and staff and leaders’ networks and training.