A MAJOR Government education report has labelled Norton College as one of the most successful schools in the country.

In the report, ‘Data driven school transformation’, published by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, the college was one of 89 schools to be singled out for special praise, having met the criteria for Ofsted ‘outstanding’ school with high value-added scores and consistently high performance.

While four other schools in the Yorkshire and Humberside region were also mentioned, Norton was the only one in North Yorkshire to achieve the status.

Headteacher Tony Rawdin said: “For once I am almost lost for words.

“We knew that last year’s results were outstanding – our best ever by some margin – and that we had been congratulated by the Specialist Schools Trust and the DCSF for our success, but to be named in this way is a real accolade.

“It reflects the quality of the work that goes on at Norton College on a daily basis.”

As the highest achieving school in North Yorkshire, the college is now setting its sights even higher and is looking forward to another great set of results this summer, said Mr Rawdin.

“Our current crop of GCSE students are revising hard and we expect large numbers to progress into the sixth form with a record number predicted to achieve A* and A grades,” Mr Rawdin added.

As a specialist humanities college, Norton is focused on enriching students’ education as much as possible, said deputy headteacher Dr Simon Carson, who oversees the learning and teaching in the college.

“The teaching and support staff at Norton are superb. They are full of ideas, constantly bringing innovations to the classroom to inspire and excite people.

“I have no doubt that our team of dedicated staff and pupils will take the college to even greater heights.

“The college has just appointed two advanced skills teachers to further strengthen our expertise in the craft of the classroom.

“The teachers are given time to carry out personal research into the most effective learning strategies and to lead other staff in their implementation.

“They also support other schools and bring a wealth of new ideas into college as a result.” Mr Rawdin said the high calibre of staff at Norton, combined with a deep commitment to see every child succeed were the main reasons for the college’s continued success.

He said: “Students often tell us that teachers and support staff at Norton are always prepared to go the extra mile for them and this is now being reflected in our outstanding results.”