About Us

Welcome by the Headteacher

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to St Francis Xavier School. We are an Outstanding school (Ofsted 2012, Diocesan Inspection 2018) where visitors always comment on the calm and purposeful atmosphere.

Our mission as a joint Catholic and Church of England school is rooted in the Gospel values of Love of God and Love of Neighbour. We expect all members of our school community to live out these values in their everyday interactions. Our young people treat others with dignity and respect and have high expectations of themselves and others, encouraging each other to succeed.

Our pupils are set challenging and aspirational targets and through a nurturing and caring environment achieve excellent results, with the school consistently one of the top performing nationally.

As well as outstanding academic outcomes we pride ourselves on educating the whole child. Pupils are encouraged to pursue their talents in many fields, and many achieve musical and sporting excellence.

Our school is a family where we support, challenge and care for one another. We benefit from strong partnerships with families, our local parishes and the wider community.

Our pupils are our finest ambassadors, demonstrating what can be achieved through hard work and a positive attitude. They leave our school prepared for the next stage of their lives as confident, inquiring and tolerant young men and women, ready to make a contribution to society.

I hope that this website gives you some insight into our school, our ethos and values and how immensely proud we are of our young people. Should you wish to see for yourself, I warmly invite you to contact our school office to arrange a visit.

Mr S McGhee
Headteacher

Visions & Values

As a church school, our aim is to develop in each child a love of God and a love of our neighbours.

We do this by striving to develop the talents and potential of everybody to the full and treating everyone – both in school and the wider community – with care and respect.

We are extremely proud of our pupils, who are excellent ambassadors.

The joint faith nature of the school is an essential part of our culture and our community is supported by two denominational chaplains. In addition to the weekly schedule of class and school assemblies, full Christian acts of worship take place throughout the year. All pupils take part in at least two Eucharistic services annually, one Catholic and one Anglican, when all children receive either communion or a blessing in line with the respective church traditions. Christmas, Easter and the end of the school year are celebrated with whole school liturgies involving many of the pupils in the delivery of readings and prayers. A voluntary Eucharistic service is held each week and is well attended. Our philosophy is that coming together at these times helps us grow personally and develop a love of our neighbour that we can take from school into our homes and the wider community. Children of other faith backgrounds are very welcome within our school, and this sharing of common beliefs and  recognition of differences is a quality we hope will develop in our pupils into a tolerance, understanding and respect for all.

“The Christian mission of the school, ‘Love of God’ and ‘Love of Neighbour’ is simply expressed, powerfully used and widely understood. It inspires every aspect of school life.” Section 5 inspection

Facilities & Resources

Learning takes place in a modern, purpose-built environment designed to meet current and future needs.

The building, which incorporates traditional and modern elements, offers specialist accommodation in every subject area with the latest interactive technology installed in each room.

Facilities include:

• An international-sized sports hall and fitness suite
• Dance and Drama studio
• Music and practice rooms

The Learning Resource Centre (LRC) is a multi-functional area that can be accessed by all year groups enabling peer support, offering interpersonal development and providing and environment that encourages a sharing and caring attitude between students.

Library

The LRC includes the School Library that holds a wide range of books for loan and reference supported by a student Librarian team who help with enquiries and maintaining the Library systems.

Communal areas offer a chance to sit quietly and read or discuss the latest news and magazines on offer.

I.T.

Computers offer another effective way to study and share ideas as well as being available to students for homework and games during break times.

Printing and writing facilities are also on hand to complete coursework.

Careers

A comprehensive careers section offers guidance on education and career routes so that pupils can make informed decisions about their future.

Respect

The area works on the principle of respect where students give priority to others who need to revise or complete coursework.

Function

The LRC is also used during lessons and examinations to create a quiet and supportive environment enabling access for all.

• Technology suite
• Science laboratories
• ICT suite
• Learning Resource Centre
• A hall designed for school gatherings and productions and the performing arts
• An attractive dining room with an outdoor eating area
• A quiet chapel at the heart of the school and the Religious Studies department