St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham

St Leonard's Catholic school
Location
DH1 4NG

County Durham
,
DH1 4NG

England

54°47′06″N 1°35′06″W / 54.785°N 1.585°W / 54.785; -1.585
Information
TypeAcademy
Religious affiliation
Roman Catholic
Established1936
Local authority
Durham County Council
TrustBishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust
143583 Tables
OfstedReports
Headteacher
Chris Hammill
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1265
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

St Leonard's Catholic School is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form. It is in Durham, County Durham, England.[1]

History

The school takes its name from St Leonard as in medieval times there was a chapel and hospital dedicated to St Leonard in this part of Durham.[2]

The school was opened in 1936 in a former coalmine-owner's house 'Mount Beulah', latterly known as Springwell Hall.[3]

The school was established as St Leonard's Catholic Central School in Springwell Hall, which had been acquired in 1935 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.[4]

During the era of the tripartite system, the school became a secondary modern and turned comprehensive in 1970 when the system was abolished by the LEA. The sixth form was opened that same year.

Previously a voluntary aided school administered by Durham County Council, in November 2016 St Leonard's Catholic School converted to academy status. The school is now a part of the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust.

The school's garden
Springwell Hall housed St Leonard's where the school started in 1936

Sunday Times Award - 2026 School of the Year

In December 2025 the school was awarded all three Sunday Times Parent Power Awards for the Northeast, these being: School of the Year, Comprehensive School of the Year and School of the Year for Academic Excellence.[5]

New Building

In April 2026 the school moved into a new building, part of a £71 million new building project. [6]

Ofsted judgements

The school was judged Outstanding in all 5 areas of the Ofsted Framework in 2024.[7] Previously the school had been judged Good by Ofsted in 2019.[8]

Headteachers

William Kavanagh 1970-1988

Sean O’Keeffe 1988-2006

Simon Campbell 2006-2019

Chris Hammill 2019-Pressent
Source:[9]


Sport

The school has a rowing club, the St Leonard's School Boat Club.[10]

Notable former pupils

Sources

  1. ↑ "St Leonard's Catholic School".
  2. ↑ "Hospitals: St Leonard, Durham | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  3. ↑ "St Leonard's – Medieval Beginnings – St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham".
  4. ↑ "History of the school".
  5. ↑ https://www.msn.com/engb/lifestyle/lifestylegeneral/10-county-durham-schools-among-uk-s-best-in-sunday-times-top-schools-2026-list/ar-AA1RKS1q?ocid=BingNewsVerp
  6. ↑ "BAM finalises £71m deal to replace first major RAAC school". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ Smith, Chris (2019). "Inspection of a good school: St Leonard's Catholic School". Ofsted. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "St Leonard's Site – And now a School! – St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham".
  10. ↑ "Club details". British Rowing.
  11. ↑ Metcalfe, Will (10 August 2015). "GCSE results 2015: Durham schoolboy seals Sunderland football scholarship". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
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