The new boss of the academy trust which runs four Wythenshawe schools has promised to boost pupil numbers and free staff to focus on teaching.

The Wythenshawe Catholic Academy Trust (WCAT), which runs St Paul’s High School and three primary schools – Ss John Fisher & Thomas More, St Elizabeth’s, St Anthony’s, – has appointed  Sacha Humphries, one of the government’s national leaders in education as its new chief executive.

Sacha Humphries has held senior leadership roles in education across the North West and was formerly Head Teacher at Saint Mary’s Catholic, School, Congleton, which was given an ‘outstanding’ status by OFSTED earlier this year.

She began her education career in 2005 when she retrained as a teacher following a career in finance with City firm Schroders.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Wythenshawe Catholic Academy Trust at a very exciting time in its development,” she said.

“Working as a multi-academy trust provides us with many opportunities to work collaboratively in order to raise achievement for all children and young people at our schools.

“The vision for the trust is to become the employer of choice across Manchester, providing its children and young people with an outstanding education, as well as exemplary pastoral care.

“One of my key priorities will be to develop the systems and infrastructure across the trust to enable staff to focus on what they do best – teaching.  We also hope to enjoy a period of growth in pupil numbers, as our doors are open to all children and young people, irrespective of their faith background, who wish to benefit from an excellent, values-driven, Catholic education.”

Sacha Humphries’ appointment is the latest in a series of changes at St Paul’s High School, which is continuing to recover from an OFSTED report in 2016 which said it required improvement.

Since the report, a new head teacher has been appointed at the school and inspectors acknowledged progress had been made, with more to be done, when they visited again last year.

And this year, St Pauls reported some of its best ever GCSE results with a pass rate of more than  60% in both English and Maths.

Governor of WCAT, Nick Johnson commented: “We’re delighted with the appointment of Sacha to CEO.  Her experience in this field is outstanding and she joins the trust at a very pivotal point in our development.  With Sacha’s involvement, I am confident the trust will be capable of great things in the coming year.”