St Paul's Catholic School, Leicester


St. Paul's Catholic School is a voluntary-aided Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form in Evington, Leicester, England. It is situated off the B667 road, just west of City of Leicester College.
In 2014 the school entered a phase of renovation which included the development of a new building including a theatre for performing arts. The site now comprises two separate buildings very close together and a car park to the rear of the main building. The school became an Academy and part of the St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Multi-Academy Trust in September 2018.

Admissions

St. Paul's is one of two Catholic comprehensive schools in the Leicester area, the other being English Martyrs Catholic School. There are 1125 students on roll at St. Paul's, 180 of whom are sixth-formers. They are organised into years, with years 7, 8 and 9 constituting the "lower school"; years 10 and 11 constituting the "upper school"; and years 12 and 13 constituting the "sixth form".

History

Grammar school

Evington Hall Convent Grammar School was a girls' grammar school on Spencefield Lane. The Convent of the Nativity Junior School was on the same site.

Comprehensive

The school was created in 1977 from the merger of two local Catholic schools – Evington Hall, the girls' grammar school that served the city and county; and Corpus Christi, the local secondary modern school built in 1950 on Gwendolen Road which is now the site of a non-denominational Primary School since 1978. The current building includes the original Evington Hall building as well as several wings built over the years. The additions have made the school building roughly twice the size it was upon the school's foundation. The school celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 2002, with an open day for alumni, hosted by students and staff. In 2003, the school attained specialist Performing Arts College status.
From September 2011, the former site of the grammar school, at Evington Hall, will become the Leicester Krishna-Avanti Primary School, a Hindu free school. It had previously been occupied until 2008 by the Junior School of the independent Leicester Grammar School, which moved to Great Glen. The owners of the building failed to get planning permission for housing.

Facilities

St Paul's is a voluntary aided school, and as such receives a reduced amount of government funding. However, the school is equipped with computer facilities, a learning plaza and a performing arts department which includes a recording studio, drama suites, dance suites and a theatre with a high stage, curtains and specialist lights. It was officially opened by Labour MPs Jim Knight and Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East. There is a Catholic chapel on the premises, which features a plaque blessed by Pope John Paul II.
It also features two hard-court areas, one with basketball posts and sports court with two full size football goals. There is a large grass field at the rear of the premises. All teaching rooms are well equipped of resources and interactive whiteboards, with many having access to computers and laptops. There is a floor dedicated to science, and a specialist room for special educational needs interventions.

Curriculum

St Paul's offers GCSE, A-Level and BTEC qualifications, as well as a mandatory PHSE programme.

Academic results

Leicester LEA has low GCSE results, but the school is one of the few to gain good GCSE results, and in 2010 was third best, behind another Catholic school, English Martyrs Catholic School. St Paul's had the best A-Level results in Leicestershire in 2012.

Staffing

All curriculum subjects are led by a faculty leader, assistant faculty leader and sub-subject leaders. The Senior Leadership Team are made up of the Principal, two Vice Principals, four Assistant Principals and a chaplain. St. Pauls employs over one hundred staff.
Years 7–11 are headed by a Head of Year, and years 12 and 13 are headed by the Head of Sixth Form, assisted by an Assistant Head of Sixth Form. There are also Assistant Head of Years and Student Support Officers to support pupils.
SEN provision include that of a specialist learning development team with particular responsibility for aiding pupils with additional needs, including higher level teaching assistants and teaching assistants being led by the special educational needs coordinator.
There have been six head teachers since 1977. Gerard O'Donnell was head from 1977 to 1990, followed by Edward Hayes until 2002. Deputy Headteacher, Roger Galvin, acted as head for one year until Francis Doherty was appointed in 2003. He was succeeded in 2011 by previously Assistant Headteacher Neil Lockyer, the school's youngest headteacher who left in 2018 to take up the position of Chief Executive Officer of the school's academy trust. In 2018, previous Deputy Headteacher Marcella Gillespie was appointed as the first female headteacher since 1977 but left after only one year in post following successful promotion to the academy trust executive team. In 2019 Shelley Conaghan was appointed Principal.

Team Ghana

Since 2008, the trip to Ghana has been organised every two years. Team Ghana 2012 have raised £40000 for schools in Obuasi and Kumasi. The trip is founded and run by Mrs Sarah Lockyer and supported by staff and students. Fundraising activities such as bake-offs, walks to Ghana and non-uniform days are conducted to raise money for the trip.

Alumni

Evington Hall Convent School