Another ‘Outstanding’ Year for Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College!

Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College in Leeds Sets the Standard in Yorkshire with its Third Consecutive ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted Rating and Exceptional ‘Strong’ Skills Provision

Following an inspection in September 2024, Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College is immensely proud to announce that Ofsted has once again awarded the College ‘Outstanding’ status for all six key judgement areas. The report highlights the College’s commitment to academic excellence, personal development, and its inclusive Catholic ethos.

College Principal, Justine Barlow said, ‘We are immensely proud to share this outcome. This success reflects the dedication of our staff, the hard work of our students, and the distinctive ethos of Notre Dame. Our commitment remains to help every student reach their full potential, guiding them to become “the best that they can be” and preparing them for bright and successful futures.’

In the updated Ofsted framework, Notre Dame was identified as making a ‘strong’ contribution to meeting skills needs. This is a high accolade: Notre Dame is the first College in Yorkshire and Humberside and only the third sixth form college in the country to achieve this!

The College works closely with local employers and universities to ensure students gain valuable work-related experience. With Notre Dame’s effective engagement with stakeholders, ‘students develop the skills, habits and virtues that they need to thrive in life and work, becoming well-rounded individuals with a strong sense of citizenship’.

Recognised as a core contributor to the College achieving ‘strong’ for skills, the focus on character development is also highlighted by Ofsted, with students valuing and participating in the ‘innovative’ Stella Maris Leadership Award, developed by college leaders. This programme develops leadership skills, perseverance, and responsibility, ‘effectively preparing students for success in both their futures and life in modern Britain’.

Inspectors praised the expert teaching staff who ‘blend the development of relevant skills seamlessly through their planning and approach’, using a range of innovative methods to engage students and ensure they achieve excellent outcomes. Teachers are noted for their ability to tailor support to meet the needs of all students, including those with SEND, helping them progress successfully.

The Report praises Notre Dame for fostering a culture of high expectations and support, where students are encouraged to achieve their academic and personal potential. ‘Students thrive in a culture of high expectation and ambition,’ states the Report, emphasising the College’s success in creating a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive community.

Notre Dame provides a safe and supportive environment, where everything is done for the good of the students, with strong safeguarding measures and a focus on developing students’ resilience and independence. Through Philosophy, Theology and Ethics lessons, students are exposed to a wide range of current social, cultural, and political issues, and its benefits are reflected in students’ “highly positive and mature attitudes”.

Ofsted praise the high-quality resources and facilities creating an ‘enriching environment’ for students to thrive and achieve. Significant investments in the College, such as the mock courtroom, science laboratories, and improved access to study spaces and IT facilities are also recognised and commended.

Following this recent inspection, Notre Dame is the only sixth form provider in Leeds to be consistently graded ‘Outstanding’ since 2008.

Thank you to everyone in the Notre Dame community who helped make this happen!

You can read the full Ofsted report here.

… and in other News …

The ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating for Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College comes as the culmination of very busy and exciting year!

In February, Bishop Marcus came to bless the new St Elizabeth Building, named for Our Lady’s cousin who greeted her at the Visitation, a scene immortalised in the College Chapel’s stained glass windows scheme depicting the Life of the Blessed Virgin.

The Bishop reminded all those assembled that education was about bringing light to others and that the Church, throughout its history, has encouraged learning and the pursuit of knowledge. However, it is what we do with that knowledge that is important, whether it is for good or evil. At the end of the liturgy, Bishop Marcus blessed both the building and the learning that would take place in it, while those present sang the hymn Be Thou My Vision accompanied on piano by one of the students in the College Choir.

Three more of England’s four Catholic universities have also joined with our own Leeds Trinity University in becoming part of Notre Dame’s Stella Maris Leadership Award Partnership: St Mary’s, Twickenham, Birmingham Newman University and Liverpool Hope University.

One of these, Liverpool Hope, itself in part grew out of a teacher training college established in the 19th century by the Sisters of Notre Dame – and there is a further connection with Liverpool Hope Chancellor Monica Grady, who attended Notre Dame when it was a school.

Catherine Herring, Director of Catholic Life, and lead for the Stella Maris Award said ‘We could not be happier that all four Catholic universities now support our work in developing students to be the person they are meant to be. All of the partners whether universities or other schools/colleges agree that education is more than simply acquiring knowledge and skills.’

The Catholic universities’ own vision – shared with Notre Dame – encompasses all the virtues the Stella Maris Award promotes. Education should enable us to develop new ways of understanding the world, help make a positive impact within it, and that students become independent thinkers with ambition, empathy, with a lifelong love for learning.