Headteacher is praised for turning round ailing school
AHEADTEACHER has been praised by the education watchdog after stepping in to help an ailing school.
Tony Billings, who is head at All Hallows Catholic College, has been appointed as executive headteacher at St Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe.
Last year, Ofsted deemed St Paul’s to have ‘serious weaknesses’ and later that year former headteacher, Fiona Minshall, left pending an investigation into leadership at the school.
Now Mr Billings, who steered All Hallows Catholic College from special measures to outstanding, is determined to transform the school’s fortunes.
Since arriving in April, Mr Billings set about uniting the staff room and rejuvenating teaching standards.
He said: “Relationships at the school had broken down and the headteacher has since moved on. There was a need to move the school forward in terms of leadership and putting it in a position whereby improvements could start to happen.
“There were a lot of incredibly hard-working people at St Paul’s but they were not necessarily work- ing together as a team.”
Mr Billings started by putting all teachers on a three-day training course known as The Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement Programme (TEEP).
St Paul’s is also now an official partner of All Hallows where Mr Billings is still in charge.
Mr Billings said: “Now we have a renewed vision and a new sense of purpose. As a whole there’s a common language we all speak.
“There’s nothing stopping this school from becoming outstanding.”
Ofsted inspectors revisited the school in May and praised the progress being made by Mr Billings – marking it up from inade- quate to requires improvement.
In its report, inspectors said: “The recently appointed executive headteacher has significantly increased the pace of the school’s improvement.
“The executive headteacher has sharpened the work of other senior leaders and has ensured that their responsibilities now fully match the needs of the school.
“Staff at all levels now say they have clarity about the school’s direction, they buy into its vision, and they welcome the firm and decisive leadership of the executive headteacher.”