St Leonard's

Year 6 Open Evening: on Thursday 2^nd October, and to share with you the most recent news about St Leonard’s. 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 currently in Year 5 will start their St Leonard’s journey in our brand-new, state-of-the-art building which fully opens in Spring Term 2026.

Ofsted: In October 2024 St Leonard’s was judged as “Outstanding” in all 5 areas of school life by Ofsted. You can read the full report here. We feel that the report reflects why we are so proud of our pupils: ‘Pupils’ attitudes to learning are exemplary… Pupils overwhelmingly appreciate the high-quality teaching they receive. Pupils are keen to contribute to class discussion, and they achieve exceptionally well in public examinations.’ Sometimes it is the shorter sentence that really reflects our school and ethos: ‘Pupils love coming to school.’

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. This ‘fly through’ video of our new school takes us through the entrance, just off North Road, and then tours the new building from various vantage points.

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 pupilsexceed the national average by between a half and almost a full grade in all subjects.

Area	No. of Secondary Schools	2022 Ranking	2023 Ranking	2024 Ranking
Diocese	20	2nd	1st	2nd
County Durham	38	2nd	3rd	2nd
North East	171	6th	4th	4th

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.

Transition Programme: Over the coming months, a period of carefully planned transition will support the move from primary to secondary school, enabling your child to familiarise themselves with our school. We want to make the transition as smooth and exciting as possible.  A brief outline of the planned events is on the next page.  We hope this will answer all the questions you and your child may have.

Year 5 Summer School Day: We are pleased to invite Year 5 pupils to a day at St Leonard’s during the summer holidays. We look forward to welcoming them to our school, giving them the opportunity to meet new friends and take part in fun activities. This will take place on Wednesday 23^rd July. Further details, and a form to secure your child’s place, will be sent to parents and carers closer to the time.

September 2026 Transition Events and Contacts