A message from our Headteacher

At Priestnall, we put our students at the centre of everything we do. Our collective philosophy is to provide an ‘education for life’, ensuring that our students are fully prepared – in terms of knowledge, skills, qualifications and confidence, in mind and body – for whatever their next step may be. We have an active Student Leadership Team who work closely with members of staff and contribute significantly to school development. As Head, I meet with our fantastic student leadership teams on a regular basis and it is always pleasing to hear how proud they are of their school and to listen to their suggestions for further improvement.

High quality teaching is the foundation upon which our success has been built, and I am very proud to be the Head of a dedicated, talented and innovative team of staff who are constantly striving to improve on our already good practice. In partnership with OLEVI, we lead on national teaching programmes delivering the Outstanding Teacher Programme and the Power of Coaching to staff at Priestnall and beyond; we are also working closely with Best Practice Network on the new National Professional Qualifications. Students at Priestnall enjoy an exciting, diverse and inspiring curriculum, and also have countless opportunities to enrich their school experience though our extra-curricular programme, which is regularly reviewed and developed to meet student interest and need. Please take a look at our subject curriculum pages, which provide you with an overview of our curriculum in each learning area, as well as detailed plans for every year group. We have an excellent Personal Development Curriculum, which includes quality time with their Learning Co-ordinator every morning, as well as access to a wide and varied programme of activities. We believe it is important to ‘check in’ with students every morning and ensure that they have everything they need to start their day.

As well as guiding our young people to achieve academic excellence, we provide impressive pastoral support in a number of ways: we have a Wellbeing Centre; a Restorative Hub and a Resilience Centre, all of which are in place to support our young people as they navigate through each stage of life. Our pastoral system is designed to ensure that all students feel safe, happy and secure; our students tell us that they “feel safe in school”, “enjoy attending” and “feel part of the Priestnall school community” (Whole school student survey, December 2021). The college structure enables students to immediately feel part of a small community within the wider school, and also allows our staff to deliver personal and individual support whilst building strong relationships with our parents and carers.

We insist upon the highest possible standards and quality at all times whilst showing care, compassion and support for each individual. We aim to remain the vibrant, learning-focused organisation with which all members of our school community are genuinely proud to be associated.

Our strengths and positive ethos are best seen at first hand I invite you to watch our virtual film which will give you a taste of what we’re about.