Howden-le-Wear Primary School
Academy converter primary school in Crook (County Durham).
Location
iSchool location from Get Information about Schools. Nearby schools are coloured by phase. Open Map+ for a full-screen map with neighbourhood deprivation (England only).About
On behalf of our Academy Council and staff, we would like to take this opportunity to offer both you and your child a sincere and warm welcome to our school. We hope that our website provides you with a comprehensive overview of our values, expectations and ways of working.
Howden-le-Wear has had a school in the village since 1856 when the Wesleyan Day School opened to provide education for the village and surrounding area. The site of the original school was on Hargill Road and remained there until 1974, when the school was moved to its current location on School Street. To this day, our school continues to grow, develop and thrive.
In recent years we have benefited from the provision of extra classrooms to support our vision of offering single form entry education for children from Reception to Year 6, which we achieved for the first time in September 2022. We are also delighted to offer education to Nursery aged pupils from 3 years old, offering 15 hour and 30 hour places.
In the school’s own words, from the school website.
Key facts
- URN
- 148852
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Does not have a sixth form
- Nursery
- Has Nursery Classes
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Constituency
- Bishop Auckland
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 2022
Governing body (8 current, 6 former)
iAcademy trust: local governing body and trust board.1 governor is linked to a profile (all confirmed).
Governors marked “Confirmed same person” have exactly the same forename and surname as the only officer of that name at the school’s own academy trust company on the Companies House register, so we treat them as the same person. The governance record itself comes from DfE.
Leadership
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs Kathryn White | Chair of Local Governing Body | Appointed by foundation/Trust | since 2025 · until 2029 |
| Dr Patrick Alexander Joseph Morton Confirmed same person Former | Chair of Local Governing Body | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · term ended 2025 |
Full governing body
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Heather Dykes | Local Governor | Parent appointed by GB/board due to no election candidates | since 2026 · until 2030 |
| Ms Stephanie Bennett | Local Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2026 · until 2030 |
| Ms Emma Leak | Local Governor | Parent appointed by GB/board due to no election candidates | since 2025 · until 2029 |
| Ms Hannah Clark | Local Governor | Ex-officio by virtue of office as headteacher/principal | since 2025 |
| Miss Amy Buckmaster | Local Governor | Elected by school staff | since 2024 · until 2028 |
| Mrs Linda Margaret Kerse | Local Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · until 2029 |
| Miss Frances Ann Johnson | Local Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · until 2029 |
| Dr Patrick Alexander Joseph Morton Confirmed same person Former | Local Governor | Appointed by academy members | since 2025 · term ended 2026 |
| Ms Lindsey Rowell Former | Local Governor | Parent appointed by GB/board due to no election candidates | since 2024 · term ended 2026 |
| Ms Laura Davison Former | Local Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2024 · term ended 2026 |
| Mrs May Anne Clark Former | Local Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · term ended 2026 |
| Mrs Kathryn White Former | Local Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · term ended 2025 |
Source: Department for Education, Get Information about Schools (governance records, as at 25 October 2026). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Names are shown as published; there are no addresses or contact details. Current and former are worked out from term end dates when the page loads. Object or ask for removal · Report an issue with this record