A headteacher who followed in his father's footsteps to lead a city school has turned its fortunes around.
St Nicholas’s Catholic Primary School in Orthes Street, Liverpool has been praised by Ofsted as a Good School – with inspectors saying that it has high expectations and that its pupils succeed. The transformation of the school comes less than six years after St Nicholas’s was rated Inadequate by Ofsted.
In 2017, just after that inspection, Martin Davies was appointed headteacher of the school – following in the footsteps of his late father Frank Davies, who led the school from 1968 to 1990 and who inspired his son to go into the teaching profession. Frank was the youngest headteacher in the city when he was appointed, aged just 33. Mr Davies’ mother Maureen was also a teacher, who was awarded a CBE in 2000 for services to education.
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When Ofsted visited for a return inspection in 2018 to check on progress at the school, Mr Davies and his team had already progressed the school to Requires Improvement. And now, after a further inspection earlier this year, St Nicholas’s has been rated Good.
St Nicholas’s is currently a voluntary aided school but in April is due to join a new academy trust, St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust. St Joseph is run in partnership between the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the Diocese of Shrewsbury, and in collaboration with the Church of England Dioceses of Chester and Liverpool
That move has attracted some criticism. The ECHO reported how former teachers, governors and pupils have questioned the move and asked 'if it ain't broke, why fix it?'
One former teacher said that the move to become part of an academy would “wipe away all the years of hard work and dedication from staff to provide stability for children” and staff and children “will be faced with further upheaval and changes unnecessarily.”
The St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust is run in partnership between the Archdiocese of Liverpool, the Diocese of Shrewsbury and the Diocese of Chester, to oversee Catholic schools in the North West. It was established last autumn with St Nicholas’ becoming the first school to join the new set up.
Speaking about the school's recent recovery, Mr Davies said: "Our wonderful school is back where it belongs. I am absolutely delighted that the hard work and determination that we have all put in to creating a first-class school has been rewarded. This is a real team effort with all members of the school community playing their part – our brilliant teachers, supportive parents and of course the wonderful pupils.
“Ofsted’s report is a superb testament to what has been achieved by all of our school’s team. However, there is always more to do to make our school even better and so we will keep working hard every day to ensure ongoing improvement.”
Of the influence of his father, Mr Davies added: “When the job of Headteacher of St Nicholas’s came up, I was leading a successful school outside Liverpool city centre. Some of my friends and family questioned why I wanted to go to a school with challenges.
“But there were two very good reasons. First I could see a school that had so much potential and secondly I knew what an honour it would be to lead the school where my father had been headteacher for so long. I saw it as his legacy. He was a brilliant school leader and such an inspiration to me. It was very special knowing that I was leading the same school where he had been Headteacher all those years ago.
“I hope he would be very proud of what we have achieved here and the significant difference we have made for the pupils and families of our school.”
