St Leonard's Catholic School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

. It is located in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England.

History

The school was founded in 1936 as the St Leonard's Catholic Central School in the former Springwell Hall, a coalmine owner's house acquired in 1935 by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church, centred on St Mary's Cathedral in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. The diocese is one of the six suffragan sees in the ecclesiastic ...

. During the era of the

tripartite system The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the ...

, the school became a

secondary modern A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

and turned comprehensive in 1970 when the system was abolished by the

LEA Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

. The

was opened that same year. During the last full

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

Inspection in 2007 the school was given an overall rating of good. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

administered by

Durham County Council Durham County Council is a local authority administering all significant local government functions in the unitary authority area of County Durham in North East England. The council area covers part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, e ...

, in November 2016 St Leonard's Catholic School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust.

Ofsted judgements

The school was judged Good by

in 2019. In 2022 it was inspected again and judged to Require Improvement.

The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship

The school has a record of students attaining places on the

Prime Minister's Global Fellowship The Global Fellowship programme (previously The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship) works with 18- and 19-year-old students from England to give them a strong foundation in interacting with one of the three major emerging economies. It began in 2008 ...

programme. The school achieved its first student in the inaugural year of the programme, 2008, and in 2009 had 3 successful applicants.

Sport

The school has a rowing club, the St Leonard's School Boat Club.

Notable former pupils

* Stephen Cantwell (born 1996), cricketer * Elliot Embleton * Paddy and Martin McAloon, founders of the pop group

Prefab Sprout Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they r ...

Sources

External links

St Leonard's School website

School history

BBC: League tables
Secondary schools in County Durham Educational institutions established in 1936 Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Schools in Durham, England Academies in County Durham 1936 establishments in England {{CountyDurham-school-stub