{"id":5043,"date":"2026-01-14T08:48:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northernlights.education\/nllt\/?post_type=ir_news&p=5043"},"modified":"2026-01-14T08:49:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:49:40","slug":"firthmoor-is-11th-school-to-join-northern-lights","status":"publish","type":"ir_news","link":"https:\/\/northernlights.education\/nllt\/news\/firthmoor-is-11th-school-to-join-northern-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Firthmoor is 11th school to join Northern Lights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Firthmoor Primary School in Darlington starts the new year with a new chapter in its history as it becomes the 11th school to join Northern Lights Learning Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern Lights is a multi-academy trust comprising primary and secondary schools, community and Church of England schools, in an area stretching from County Durham to Wearside and now with over 4,000 pupils in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School leaders at Firthmoor say they have taken great time and consideration in joining the Trust for the next stage of their development. Formal transition took place on 1 January but the school and Northern Lights have been working together for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur trustees are confident that joining the Northern Lights family of schools is the right move to make,\u201d said Helen Ashton, Headteacher at Firthmoor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNorthern Lights Learning Trust has a reputation for excellence, they align with our values, put pupils front and centre and celebrate uniqueness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo Heaton OBE, Chief Executive of Northern Lights, welcomed the addition of Firthmoor to the Trust, which also comprises the DfE Northern Lights Teaching School Hub as well as the DfE Early Years Hub North East. \u201cOur mission is to ensure everyone flourishes, with children and young people at the heart of everything that we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe support all pupils and staff to grow, develop and \u2018be the best they can be\u2019. We are delighted that school leaders at Firthmoor saw a reflection of themselves in our mission and vision and we are looking forward to continuing to work alongside them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firthmoor Primary School is a feeder school to nearby St Aidan\u2019s CE Academy, which is also part of Northern Lights Learning Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other primary schools in Northern Lights are Benedict Biscop CE Academy, Sunderland; Dame Dorothy Primary School, Sunderland; Grange Primary School, Hartlepool; Hart Primary School, Hartlepool; Holley Park Academy, Washington; St Helen\u2019s Primary School, Hartlepool; and St Peter\u2019s Elwick CE Primary School, Hartlepool. Their three secondaries are St Aidan\u2019s CE Academy, Darlington; Ian Ramsey CE Academy, Stockton-on-Tees; and Venerable Bede CE Academy, Sunderland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Pupils are pictured celebrating Firthmoor Primary School joining Northern Lights Learning Trust with, back from left, Katie Hammond, Chair of Northern Lights; Jo Heaton OBE, Chief Executive of Northern Lights; Nesreen El-Baz, Firthmoor School Governor; and Helen Ashton, Firthmoor\u2019s Headteacher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-5043","ir_news","type-ir_news","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernlights.education\/nllt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ir_news\/5043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernlights.education\/nllt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ir_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernlights.education\/nllt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ir_news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernlights.education\/nllt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northernlights.education\/nllt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}