Welcome from the Headteacher

Thank you for your interest in applying for a post at Our Lady’s Catholic High School. You will join a school that makes a real and lasting positive difference to the lives of the young people who come through our doors. We are committed to their academic success and their wellbeing, and to giving them the best possible chance of a successful and happy future. It is a wonderful place to work if you are a dedicated and passionate individual, who enjoys teaching and wants to make a difference.

We are a school with a strong and tangible sense of community and belonging. We genuinely believe in preparing our students to become compassionate and caring citizens, aware of their global responsibilities. The school motto, found on our crest, is Nitendo Vincamus, which translates as “Through our efforts, we overcome”. It was with this in mind that the sisters of the Servite Order opened our school in Stamford Hill in 1904, providing educational opportunities for some of the girls of Hackney. Today, we still work with this in mind; to support our students, to work with them and for them, to remove barriers to achievement and to work together to enable success. We are all ‘shaping tomorrow, inspired by faith.’

The school was rebuilt on the same site in 2012 to an exceptionally high standard, with excellent classrooms, facilities, and staff workrooms in a clean and light environment.

If you take the time to visit and to apply to work with us, which I hope you will do, you will discover for yourself that we are a vibrant, diverse, exciting, inner city school. Our students want to do well, to be taught by enthusiastic teachers and to be part of a caring community. We change people’s lives and your work will be integral to our success in doing this.

We look forward to receiving your application and having the opportunity to welcome you to our team

Some key facts about our school

We are a small, four form entry school, with 750 students, which means:

• we do know every individual
• relationships between staff and students are built with ease in a supportive environment
• discipline can be maintained as all students are known and valued
• classrooms can be creative, ‘risk taking’ environments for effective teachers

We were very fortunate to be part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, which means we:

• work in a light and spacious building
• have well designed, modern classrooms
• have a school chapel, 6 purpose built science labs, drama and dance studios, sports hall and outdoor multi-games area, and much more!

We have an Ofsted rating of Good and are working to gain an Outstanding, which means we:

• are not complacent and are always developing and growing
• have high expectations in everything: standards of uniform and behaviour, levels of support and nurture, and quality of teaching and learning
• have a sound basis on which to move to outstanding

We are an all-girls Catholic school (with a mixed Sixth Form) which means we:

• are a faith community
• have a strong and tangible sense of unity and community
• have an explicit moral purpose to our work

Our benefits include:

New modern, light, airy building

Outstanding classrooms and facilities

Well-resourced and spacious planning rooms for staff on each floor

Free use of the school gym

Excellent public transport links

Safe and secure cycle storage

Cycle to work scheme

Childcare voucher scheme

Support for training and development

Innovative cloud based teaching platform