St Benedict's Catholic College

About St Benedict's Catholic College

St Benedict’s Catholic College is a secondary school located in the ancient town of Colchester, Essex. Originally founded in 1963 as a secondary modern, St Benedict’s exists today as a co-educational voluntary-aided school.

It is the only Catholic secondary school in Colchester. With 900 students aged 11-16, St Benedict’s is a smaller than average secondary school.

Principal

Mrs Jo Santinelli

Values and vision

As a school in the Catholic tradition, St Benedict’s holds Catholic values at the heart of everything it does. The college has a dedicated chaplaincy office, with mass being offered to all students regularly and prayer taking place in form time every morning.

The college regularly organises retreats in order to encourage spiritual reflection and team-building. Students are well supported by the chaplaincy and pastoral teams. St Benedict’s has a strong reputation for academic excellence, and seeks to preserve this by offering a wide-ranging and well-taught curriculum.

Ofsted says

• St Benedict’s is a welcoming school with a strong ethos of caring for pupils and promoting academic achievement.
• It’s more than a school: it’s a community
• Pupils’ behaviour is typically good.
• There are strong relationships between staff and pupils.
• During social times the school is calm, and pupils take part in a range of activities.
• Classrooms are calm and focused places to learn.
• The school is well led and managed.
• Leaders at all levels want pupils to succeed academically.

Section 48 inspectors say

St Benedict’s is an outstanding Catholic school having continued to improve since the last inspection. These improvements are a result of outstanding leadership at all levels within the school community. The school provides exceptional care and support for students who thrive in this highly inclusive multifaith community which has Christ at the centre of all its work.

The strong and all-pervading Catholic ethos is underpinned by highly positive and supportive relationships between all members of the school community