St Antony’s Catholic Primary School

St Antony’s was originally established in 1862 by Ursuline Nuns. I was appointed as the first Head Teacher of ethnic minority heritage at Antony’s Catholic Primary School in Newham, in October 2013 and formerly took up office in January 2014. Between 2009 and 2013 St Antony’s was languishing near the bottom of the borough’s league tables in the lower 50’s of 60 schools. It was painfully evident to me that pupil progress had to be my main focus. I therefore made strategic and fundamental changes to the structures and curriculum to ensure that the pupils in general but particularly those at the end of KS1 (year 2) and KS2 (year 6) would make accelerated progress in all core areas.

By June 2014 the school moved from the bottom of the borough’s league tables to the top. The school had made a meteoric rise to fourth in the borough over the first two terms under my leadership and I had every intension for us to continue to sustain this level of progress and achievement.