St James' Catholic High School

Thank you for your interest in St James’ Catholic High School. This is an exciting time as we look to move our school to the next level.We are a good oversubscribed school (OFSTED 2022, Catholic Schools Inspectorate 2024) located in Stockport, South of Manchester. Our school is made up of 825 students and 100 staff. St James’ Catholic High School is a thriving Catholic community that places children at the centre of everything we do.St James’ is a highly academic performing school. Recently our Catholic community has achieved:Impressive positive progress 8 scores for the previous five yearsIn 2025, 73% of students achieved at least a grade 4 in English & Maths while 22% of students achieved a grade 7 in both of these subjects82 grade 9s and 115 grade 8s in 2025 demonstrating exceptional attainment across a wide range of subjectsExceptional results in Art, Drama, Music, MFL, PE and the Sciences placing us in the top 20% of similar schools nationally Our school is at the cutting edge of teaching and learning and thrives on providing outstanding opportunities for the young people we serve. We are currently working with the schools, students and teachers network (SSAT), based on the research of Dylan Wiliam, to ensure our teaching and learning practice is continually improving. All our staff work to provide our young people with the skills, knowledge and understanding in order to achieve their full potential.Inspired by the example of St James, the purpose of our school is to strive for excellence whilst keeping our Catholic roots at the centre of everything we do. Our three school values of Family, Faith and Excellence are lived out every single day by staff, students and all stakeholders.The reputation of our school is exceptional within Stockport and across the Shrewsbury Diocese for academic excellence, impeccable pupil conduct and for providing outstanding additional opportunities for our young people. The result is that our young people develop into global Catholic citizens who are proud to profess their faith and who make a positive contribution to society.At the root of our success is our St James’ community. This is built on strong, positive relationships between all staff, students and parents. Our parents support our school and develop their children at home whilst our dedicated staff are relentless in driving excellence by providing the best educational experiences and opportunities for our students. Underpinning this excellence are our unique values, Catholic ethos and our mission. We are inspired and driven by the Gospel where we are told:‘With God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26).Mr A PontifexHeadteacher

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