St Joseph’s School’s new permanent headteacher says she is hoping to build on a good start.

Cathie Doyle has been teaching at the school for 25 years, and was made acting head last Easter, following Vincent McCloskey.

Within weeks of taking over she was thrown straight into the stress of an Ofsted inspection, but it turned out to be a success, with the school improving its rating from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘good’.

The school’s governors have now given Mrs Doyle the job permanently, and she says she is hoping to build on the Ofsted success and help the school improve further.

She said: “We were delighted with the Ofsted, and now we just want to move forward and get to ‘outstanding’.

“We’ve got a fantastic staff here who pull together and work hard, and we’ve got a great governing body which really does share our vision.”

The school’s governors said Mrs Doyle had been appointed after a rigorous two-day interview process, when she was unanimously judged to be the best candidate against a national field of prospective heads.