Governing Board of the Federation of Middleham (Voluntary Aided) and Spennithorne (Voluntary Controlled) Church of England Primary Schools and North Yorkshire Council Statutory Notice and Statutory Proposals
Proposals to restructure the federation into separate infant and junior schools – with Spennithorne Church of England (VC) Primary School becoming an infant school (with an age range of four to seven) and Middleham Church of England (Voluntary Aided) Primary School becoming a junior school (with an age range of seven to 11) and to change the category of Spennithorne Church of England School to Voluntary Aided.
Part one
Notice is given in accordance with section 19(3) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 that the governing board intends to change the age range of Spennithorne Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School, Spennithorne, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5PR from four to 11 years to four to seven years from 1 September 2026. The current admission number for the school is 13 and the proposed admission number will be 20.
Part two
Notice is given in accordance with section 19(3) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 that the governing board intends to change the age range of Middleham Church of England (Voluntary) Aided School, Park Lane, Middleham, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 4QX from four to 11 years to seven to 11 years from 1 September 2026. The current admission number for the school is 15 and the proposed admission number will be 20.
Part three
Notice is given in accordance with section 19(3) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 that the governing board intends to change the category of Spennithorne Church of England Primary School, Spennithorne, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5PR from Voluntary Controlled to Voluntary Aided from 1 September 2026.
The proposal also includes revised school catchment area arrangements that would apply.
Copies of the complete proposal can be obtained by contacting us here.
Within four weeks from the date of publication of this proposal, any person may object to or make comments on the proposal by contacting us here by 5pm on 6 February 2026.
Signed: Chair of Governors, Federation of Middleham (Voluntary Aided) and Spennithorne (Voluntary Controlled) Church of England Primary Schools
Publication Date: 12 January 2026
The proposals contained in parts one, two and three of this notice are related.
Statutory proposals
Proposals to restructure the federation into separate infant and junior schools – with Spennithorne Church of England (VC) Primary School becoming an infant school (with an age range of 4 to 7) and Middleham Church of England (Voluntary Aided) Primary School becoming a junior school (with an age range of 7 to 11) and to change the category of Spennithorne Church of England School to Voluntary Aided
Part one
Change of age range of Spennithorne Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School from four to 11 years to four to seven years.
Part two
Change of age range of Middleham Church of England (Voluntary) Aided School from four to 11 years to seven to 11 years.
Part three
Change of category of Spennithorne Church of England Primary School from Voluntary Controlled to Voluntary Aided.
School and local authority details
Proposals published by the Governing Board of the Federation of Middleham (Voluntary Aided) and Spennithorne (Voluntary Controlled) Church of England Primary Schools to change the age range of Spennithorne Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School, Spennithorne, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5PR from four to 11 years to four to seven years from 1 September 2026.
Proposals published by the Governing Board of the Federation of Middleham (Voluntary Aided) and Spennithorne (Voluntary Controlled) Church of England Primary Schools to change the age range of Middleham Church of England (Voluntary) Aided School, Park Lane, Middleham, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 4QX from four to 11 years to seven to 11 years from 1 September 2026.
Description of alteration and evidence of demand
It is proposed to change the age range of Spennithorne Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School from four to 11 years to four to seven years from 1 September 2026 and to change the age range of Middleham Church of England (Voluntary) Aided School from four to 11 years years to seven to 11 years from 1 September 2026.
It is proposed to change the category of Spennithorne Church of England Primary School from Voluntary Controlled to Voluntary Aided from 1 September 2026.
The current admission number for Spennithorne Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School is 13 and the proposed admission number will be 20. The current admission number for Middleham Church of England (Voluntary) Aided School is 15 and the proposed admission number will be 20.
Objectives
During summer 2024, the Council received legal advice that the model that had been established by the federation was not compliant with the provisions of the Education Act 1996 and the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 which govern the arrangements for school admissions and registration. The advice, which was partly informed by information provided by the Department for Education, noted that pupils are required to receive their education at the school at which they are registered.
This advice means that the current organisational arrangements within the federation are not compliant with the regulations and that the federated governing board needs to implement a change so that the arrangements become compliant.
The council advised the federated governing board of possible solutions / restructure options, set out below, which the federated governing board has carefully considered.
Following its consideration of the options, the federated governing board has submitted proposals for the establishment of separate infant and junior schools and believes that this option will enable them to best meet the needs of the community and to continue to provide a high standard of education to pupils.
The federated governing board has also requested that the category of Spennithorne Church of England School is changed from Voluntary Controlled to Voluntary Aided as part of these school organisation proposals.
Joint working with Middleham Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School could be enhanced should Spennithorne become a Voluntary Aided School due to greater alignment between the two schools. For example:
- the schools would have the same Religious Education syllabus enabling greater shared provision
- the federated governing body would be the single employer of staff, making shared staffing arrangements in appropriate cases easier
- the inspection processes under the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools framework would be more aligned
The effect on other educational institutions within the area
There is not expected to be any effect on other schools, academies and educational institutions, other than those covered by these proposals.
Project costs and indication of how these will be met, including how long term value for money will be achieved
Capital Position
Capital investment is not included within the proposal.
The local authority receives school condition allocation to invest in priorities across the schools for which they are responsible, including Voluntary Controlled Schools. As a Voluntary Aided school, Spennithorne would not look to the local authority for this funding: instead, the Diocese receives school condition allocation to distribute based on an assessment of priorities across the Voluntary Aided schools in the Diocese. As a Voluntary Aided school, Spennithorne would be responsible for making a 10% statutory contribution to all capital works funded from school condition allocation funding or Devolved Formula Capital.
Revenue Position
School budgets are funded largely by pupil numbers so the proposal would not lead to an increase in revenue funding. The school organisation proposal of infant and junior schools provides the same level of funding across the federation as that currently received by the separate schools with the lump sum funding retained for each school. In an amalgamation of two schools, one school’s lump sum would cease and whilst an amalgamated school across two sites may receive split site funding, this would be a reduced funding amount compared to the lump sum funding for the two schools.
Federated governing boards can request to amalgamate their individual school budgets; these arrangements could continue under the infant and junior school proposals.
Based on the proposal taking effect from September 2026, and other things being equal, the federated governing board has determined the optimum funding position, based on best estimates of revenue funding for each financial year for the individual schools within the federation. Irrespective of this school organisation proposal, the federation governing boards are continuously required to oversee financial management, and this includes considering efficiency actions where improvements are identified as being necessary in the school financial forecast.
Implementation plan
The proposals contained in parts one, two and three are related.
Under the proposal, both the infant and junior schools would serve the catchment areas which are currently separately served by each primary school. For this reason, the catchment areas would be merged, with each extended to include the other. The shared catchment areas are shown on the map accompanying this document. These arrangements would be implemented from September 2026 only in the event of the infant / junior restructure.
Consultation to date
The decision to consult on the proposal was taken by the Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills on the 11 September 2025. The consultation period ran from 22 September 2025 to 7 November 2025. A copy of the consultation paper, a note of the public meeting, and consultation responses are included within the report to the Executive of 16 December 2025.
Statement explaining the procedure for responses
Within four weeks from the date of publication of this proposal, any person may object to or make comments on the proposal by contacting us here by 5pm on 6 February 2026.
Publication Date: 12 January 2026