Who Are We?
At Don Valley Academy our ethos is ‘Changing lives through belief and collaboration, by being kind and our best learners’. We believe that our core purpose as an academy is to prepare our students for life after secondary education, by ensuring that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to lead successful lives. To prepare our students for their future we work tirelessly to develop their character, cultural understanding and resilience, thus enabling them to achieve excellent qualifications and live successful and fulfilling lives. At Don Valley Academy, we work collaboratively with our students to ensure that they are all able to learn in a happy, safe and caring environment. Whilst there is a strong emphasis on academic achievement at Don Valley Academy, we also encourage our students to take part in our extra-curricular programme, which offers a wide variety of experiences outside our regular curriculum.
The Mission of Delta Academies Trust is ‘Changing Lives by improving educational outcomes for the North of England and creating a sustainable organisation that improves our society and the wider community’. It is essential for our success as an academy that we always maintain the highest of standards, something which is only achievable through successful collaboration between our staff, parents and students. Our challenge is to provide a high standard of education that gives our students the tools necessary to compete in the global market.
Results
Staff at Don Valley Academy are extremely proud of our students’ most recent academic performance, as they achieved the Academy’s highest ever GCSE results in 2022. Most notably, 52% of students achieved a grade 5 or higher in Maths and English combined whilst 72% achieved a grade 4 or higher. We are particularly proud of the results our English department achieved, with 76% of students achieving a grade 5 or higher, and the fact that overall progress for students at the academy was +0.32.
Why Join Our Academy?
Don Valley is a vibrant academy, full of opportunity and high expectation for all. We believe in the power of positive relationships and work hard to maintain a culture of kindness and inclusivity. We have 1091 students on roll in our 11-16 academy, higher than the national average, all of whom benefit from a state-of-the-art building and facilities.
We serve a significantly deprived community, with 39% of students being pupil premium (higher than the national average of 27.7%) and 40% of students registering as being in the bottom 10% for deprivation nationally (Doncaster average of 27%). Despite these challenges, you will find Don Valley students to be polite and engaged with learning. As a community, we embrace all opportunities and strive to support and challenge one another. We have a comprehensive professional development calendar which is tailored specifically to meet the current needs of our staff and students. Staff enjoy the leadership opportunities found within our ‘DEEPs’ model and can gain valuable experience of roles across the Academy, ranging from Aspiring Leader to Associate Assistant Principal. Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do at Don Valley Academy, and it is highly valued by both staff and students.
Mr Rob Burton, Associate Executive Principal