THE new head teacher of a Catholic primary school is hoping her vision will lead it to become Ofsted ‘outstanding’.

Kathryn Bishop-Horsfield, 33, has taken over at St Mary’s RC School, in Tong Lane, Bacup, after teaching for 11 years.

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Although the 147-pupil school currently ‘requires improvement’ according to Ofsted and a full inspection is expected this academic year, Mrs Bishop-Horsfield said she had extremely high expectations for both staff and pupils and aims to lead the school to become outstanding.

The mother of Noah, five, and 20-month-old Harris said: “My vision is for a journey to excellence for the school and this stems from the gospel values and I want to promote home school parish links.

“I have a passion for the development of the whole child making sure they are socially, morally and culturally secure and they all achieve their absolute best in everything they do.

“Behaviour is something I will be focusing on, not just social behaviour but also learning behaviour and making sure learning is at the centre of everything we do.”

It is two years since the school has had a permanent head and it was led by Sarah Watson, associate head teacher, for the last year.

“She really did make fantastic moves forward and I want to build on those firm foundations,” said Mrs Bishop-Horsfield.

“St Mary’s has been very welcoming and I met the parents at move on day and they asked me great questions and they received honest answers.

“Governors have also been very friendly and supportive and I have a team of full-time permanent staff from nursery to Year Six”

Mrs Bishop-Horsfield is a member of St Anselm and St Mary’s parish and was brought up on a farm in Waterfoot.

Her first teaching job was at St Oswald’s in Accrington where she worked for five years and became a member of the senior leadership team.

At St Mary’s in Littleborough she was a deputy head and the school went from a satisfactory Ofsted rating to good. It was also rated outstanding in its latest RE inspection.

“I always wanted to be a teacher and I have a passion for Catholic education,” said Mrs Bishop-Horsfield.