Let me start by thanking you for your interest in St Cuthbert's Catholic High School. My colleagues on the Governing Body and I are delighted you are considering making an application.

As Headteacher at St Cuthbert’s, I am so proud to lead our school as we reflect on and celebrate a year of major change and success. We are experiencing a dramatic shift in terms of ambition, aspiration and achievement. To put it in plain terms, St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School is on the up, and we are excited to see how progress will continue at a pace in 2020 and beyond.

Of course, as a community of students, staff, governors and parents, we have been working towards changing our culture and vision of the school for some time, and now we are all satisfied to see that our collective achievements are being showcased and recognised by others.

In September 2016, Ofsted inspectors were so impressed with the rapid reversal of fortunes at St Cuthbert’s that they handed us a “good” rating and concluded that ours is a “truly inclusive school where every pupil is valued”. Students’ behaviour, student safety, and the school’s “refusal to give up on any pupil” were among the areas coming in for praise. And we were credited for the introduction of a new curriculum, which has increased the percentage of our students progressing to sustained education, employment or training to 98%.

Ofsted said the school was now home to “an ambitious and aspirational culture” and the passion of parents was also highlighted. Inspectors noted how they had written at length to inspectors “detailing how happy their children are and how well they are progressing”.

For the second year in a row, we are an oversubscribed school for 2019-20.

St Cuthbert’s has recently completed a massive capital development programme, which has seen nearly £1M invested in the school building and grounds over the last 6 years. In 2016, seven new state-of-the-art classrooms where built in the former Lindisfarne House. The classrooms, which opened in September 2016, are the new home of the Geography, History and Business departments.

I warmly encourage you to visit the school. On behalf of the Governing Body I look forward to hearing from you and in receiving your completed application form.

Mrs Catherine Twist

Headteacher