Parents / Carers,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls. Choosing a secondary school for your daughter will probably be one of the most important decisions you make as a family.
St Philomena’s is a truly vibrant and aspirational community of learning and faith. We seek to provide opportunities for all our students to achieve their very best, to grow in confidence and become independent young women. Our students are encouraged to be ambitious and to have high aspirations. We actively encourage them to take a lead role in their education and develop their learning whilst maturing into confident, resilient, resourceful young women able to face the challenges of our modern world.
Our curriculum has many pillars as demonstrated below to ensure the totality of a student’s experience is rich with breath and depth. It is designed to ensure it meets the needs of all learners with an excellent range of subjects and progression through the key stages. We encourage students to be inquisitive, open to new ideas and curious in their learning.
Students at St Philomena’s succeed regardless of their ability. We know our students well and we know how they learn best. Our success is due to our strong collaborative working partnership with home and parish. We value parental contribution and aim to ensure that parents/carers are fully involved in helping their daughter's to make progress and realise their potential, so they are able to make informed decisions about their future and life after St Philomena’s.
Our students are our greatest ambassadors; the vast majority progress to our Sixth Form and thereafter to university, higher level degree apprenticeships in specific fields or further education. We have a very active alumni network.
We are very proud of our students and their ongoing achievements; the values they share make our community unique and special.
I look forward to welcoming you and your daughter to our school.
Yours faithfully
Ms M Noone BSc (Hons) PGCE, MBA, NPQH
Headteacher
Safeguarding
St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls is committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of our students and staff. The term ‘safeguarding’ refers to the protection of young people from maltreatment or abuse, preventing harm to their health or development, ensuring that they grow up in the provision of safe and effective care and taking action to enable all young people to have the best outcomes.
All adults working in the school have a duty to protect young people from harm and abuse, and receive training in safeguarding. The health, safety and well-being of every student is of paramount importance. We expect all staff, governors, volunteers and visitors to share this commitment to safeguarding the young people in our care. We listen to our students and take seriously what they tell us. Students are made aware of the adults they can talk to if they have any concerns. Staff are trained to look out for signs of harm or neglect and are required to report these to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or the Deputy DSL.
St Philomena’s School complies with the provisions of the government guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’and ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ and the school has adopted a Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy in line with this. Any young person’s welfare issues identified are addressed by our Safeguarding Team, and acted upon in partnership with families and other agencies where appropriate. Where possible we will ensure that all concerns are discussed with parent/carers first, before any referrals are made, unless we believe that such a move may be contrary to a young person’s welfare.
Safeguarding Team
If you have a concern that a young person is being harmed, is at risk of harm, or you receive a disclosure you must contact one of the Designated Safeguarding Leads listed below.
Our Safeguarding Team are:
Designated Safeguarding Lead – Mrs A Fernandez, Senior Assistant Headteacher
Deputy Safeguarding Lead – Ms Hensman, Mrs Lovelock & Mrs Delaney
Other trained Safeguarding Leads include the Headteacher, SENDCo and Head of Year team.
If you are worried that a child or young person is in immediate danger, don't delay – call the police on 999, or call NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, right away.
