Peterborough Catholic school showcased in Parliamentary Review

St John Fisher Catholic High School in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, has been highlighted as an excellent school in the 2016/17 Parliamentary Review, which showcases best practice to leading policymakers.

Introduced by Prime Minister Theresa May, St John Fisher features alongside a small number of excellent schools in a document that looks back on the year in schools and Westminster. The main aim of the Review is to showcase best practice as a learning tool to the public and private sector.

Across all policy areas, The Parliamentary Review is sent to over half a million leading policymakers. The articles in the Review act as both a blueprint for success and a template for reform.

The report says: “It takes a lot of effort by a lot of people over a lot of time to create a Good school. One person can have a dramatic initial impact but they need to engage others to build an effective team. This is what happened at St John Fisher Catholic High School over a five-year period resulting in a school that is now consistently performing well and was in the top 10% nationally for GCSE results in 2016.

“The school serves a very challenging community. Almost two-thirds of students do not have English as their first language and the majority of these speak their first language at home.

There is a very large mix of ethnicities in the school and many different religions: around half the students are Catholic and about a fifth are Muslim. The student population includes many students from deprived parts of the city.”2

The school’s journey began in 2008 when the school went into Special Measures. Sean Hayes was appointed as executive Headteacher. Five terms later it was taken out of Special Measures and by 2013 an inspection judged the school to be Good in all areas. A diocesan inspection went on to judge it Outstanding.

The report concludes that the school has achieved this in challenging times because: “it continues to play to its strengths: being inclusive, celebrating diversity, caring for every person and providing for the needs of all. It does this by staying true to its core values.”

Sean said: “We are delighted to have been selected to feature in this year’s Review. While the invitation resulted from excellent exam results, it has allowed us to promote all the other things that we do well and these have come across brilliantly in the article. This has been a welcome boost for the school community and a validation of the excellent work that we do.”

Read the full report on the school (starting on page 48) at:
www.theparliamentaryreview.co.uk/editions/secondary-education/midlands-and-east-england