St Leonard's

All are welcome to our Year 6 Open Evening on Thursday 2^nd October at 6pm. This is a once in a generation moment: your child will be one of the first pupils to benefit from the multi-million pound investment in our new school building. Children starting Year 6 in September 2025 will start their St Leonard’s journey in our brand-new, state-of-the-art building which fully opens in Spring Term 2026.

For everyone:  Many people think Catholic schools are only for Catholic pupils. The opposite is true. Catholic schools are here to serve the whole community. We are open to all pupils, regardless of faith. Across the country, c.40% of pupils in Catholic schools come from a variety of faith backgrounds and none. Any questions on admissions,  contact Nicola Callender on ncallender@st-leonards.durham.sch.uk.

Ofsted: Please see linked our Ofsted report from October 2024 when we were judged outstanding in all five areas.

New Building Design: If you are familiar with our site, you will have seen the speed at which the new building is being constructed, and the picture below shows current progress. When the entire project is completed, we will have the rare benefit of having a fully restored Victorian house at the heart of our school, housing our Reception, Library and seminar rooms, alongside a state-of-the-art building with first class facilities. These include workshops, specialist Science labs, IT suites, Music and recording studios and an art base.

Sports Facilities: Our new build includes a dance studio, sports hall, climbing wall, outdoor pitch, and four hard-court pitches. We cater for many sports and for all abilities. We have individuals and teams competing at regional and national level, alongside an after-school programme that caters for enthusiastic beginners and those wishing to broaden their sporting experience. Our clubs and sports include basketball, football, netball, rugby, cricket, badminton, dodgeball, rounders and athletics, just to name a few! We are also very proud that St Leonard’s, as a state school, is unique in having its own boat house, and we have a strong presence in national and regional rowing competitions.

Sixth Form: Our Sixth Form is one of the highest performers in the North East of England. We offer a range of vocational and traditional academic courses and students receive personal, tailor-made support that allows them to flourish in the future that is the best fit for them as individuals; whether that is high-quality apprenticeship with companies such as Hitachi, GSK and Rolls Royce, or the highly accredited University course in Psychology, Sound Engineering or Midwifery.

Our Ethos: St Leonard’s is a traditional Catholic school, where our vision is to ensure that all pupils are ‘known and loved’. Our staff and pupils aim to live out our school ethos: it is at the core of everything that we do. Our school is open to everyone and welcomes pupils from our Catholic feeder schools as well as many other primary schools in County Durham every year. Our transition programme uses tutor classes, pastoral staff and enrichment clubs to help all pupils make friends from the range of primary schools we serve.

Our Achievement: We are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication that has gone into our outstanding academic achievement over the past few years. At GCSE, St Leonard’s pupils exceeded the national average by between a half and almost a full grade in all subjects.

A Level: St Leonard’s students achieve very strongly, and we are ranked amongst the highest performing schools in the North East for university destinations, with over half of our students progressing to Russell Group Universities and a significant number to Oxford and Cambridge. See recent news here.

Our Enrichment: As a school we place great importance on the development of the whole person. As such, we run an extensive range of clubs and societies for pupils to enjoy; exploring new hobbies and skills in parallel with their day-to-day lessons. We currently offer over 60 enrichment clubs and run frequent trips for all year groups. See here. We want all our pupils to develop into confident, happy, responsible, well-rounded individuals, armed with a wealth of experience to help them achieve and enjoy success and happiness in life.

Prospectus: Please see our prospectus for more information about our school.