Possible New School! We have had lots of surveys taking place at the school over the past few weeks and it is looking more and more likely that we may get a new school. Nothing is finalised yet but we have everything crossed! Watch this space!

Sporting Successes: We continue to enjoy a good deal of sporting success at St. Theresa’s and I know you all enjoy reading about it! (Or at least I hope you do!) Our fabulous young people have managed to qualify for the West Yorkshire Sportshall Athletics finals, in Huddersfield in March 2017, as one of only 2 representatives from Leeds schools, for the third year running. This is a fabulous achievement and I am immensely proud of our young athletes who have easily exceeded our expectations this year, given that well over half the team are from Y4 and Year 5! Well done everyone!

Mini-Vinnies: Our Mini-Vinnies continue to go from strength to strength and they will be coordinating another i-Can project in Lent which will involve all the local Catholic and non-Church schools. We will send whatever produce we get to the Trussell Trust at the South Leeds food bank.

Section 48 RE Inspection: We were visited by representatives of the Diocesan Inspection Team, led by Mrs A Lumbomski, in February 2017! I am delighted to be able to say that we have maintained our status as an Outstanding Catholic School for the second inspection running (2012 and 2017) and that our young people were an absolute credit to their school, their families, their parish and themselves! I am particularly delighted that Mrs Crowley, our RE Lead, came out of the inspection so well... she is a fabulous RE leader and all the staff recognise her as such and are equally delighted for her!

And finally... we have had one or two comings and goings since I last wrote to you! Mr Morgan’s replacement has finally been sorted and I am delighted to welcome Rebecca Dodd (whom many of you will know from the parish) to our teaching team for September 2017! We also welcome Andrea Latham, Ana Pulokiene, Sarah Gaughan and Lisa Caygill to the team as lunchtime ladies! Fab to have you on board!

Until next time, yours in Christ; John Hutchinson, Head

STOP PRESS:

Since I put together the article for the Parish Magazine we have had the pleasure of a visit from Ofsted! Mr Phil Smith, HMI, visited school on Tuesday, 7 March 2017. This was a one-day Section 8 Inspection with only one inspector. There were three possible outcomes to this inspection:

1. that we remained a good school and the HMI would stay one day only and then write to me confirming this status.
2. he could convert the Section 8 to a Section 5 inspection and come back with more inspectors to see if we had made enough progress to become Outstanding or
3. to see if the school required further improvement or special measures to be taken to improve it.

Fortunately for us, Mr Smith was of the opinion that the school remained good; in fact he was highly complimentary about the school and the following extracts from the letter (which was addressed to me) show just how pleased he was: The leadership team has maintained and further improved the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You and your leadership team have successfully created a culture of care combined with high expectations of both pupils and staff. Pupils thrive in the nurturing climate, which enables them to achieve highly.

He said this about our wonderful Governors:

Governors are sharp, perceptive and not afraid to challenge you and your team. Governors have a sound, secure strategic understanding of their role. They clearly demonstrate that they know what is working well and where they want to see further improvement. Governors ask well-targeted questions, especially in relation to the progress of particular year groups, and remain focused on making sure that the actions leaders take benefit pupils.

And he said this about safeguarding and our pupils:

Alongside a culture of care, there is a culture of vigilance when it comes to keeping pupils safe. You and other staff in school work tirelessly to make sure that pupils are safe and secure in school. Many staff commented that if they had any doubts or concerns about a child’s safety then they ‘must pass it on’ and share their concerns. As a result, pupils are happy in school, attend regularly and bullying is rare. Your ‘golden rules’ and clear behaviour system means that pupils are polite, cooperative and considerate.

John Hutchinson, Head