St. Boniface's College Blog for week beginning Monday 1st July 2013

Saturday 29th June,

Good morning all, please find below a statement from the chair of Governors of St. Boniface's Catholic College regarding the leadership of the College. It is expected that all members of the St. Boniface community will have received via first class post a copy of the statement by now. The statement was also released by the College to the press but every effort has been made to ensure that our community were first to hear the news.

Andrew Davies

Friday 28th June 2013

Dear Parents and friends

Investigation outcome

I am now in a position to communicate the outcome of the recent investigation into 

a complaint, from outside the College, about  the College’s Headteacher, Mr Peter Eccles. 

I have received the investigators’ report, which is confidential to Governors and will not be published. However, I can report that the investigators concluded that Mr Eccles had conducted ‘an inappropriate relationship’ with a female member of staff, which was inconsistent with his role as Head Teacher of a Catholic School and contrary to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. As a result of this, the investigators concluded that Mr Eccles had brought St Boniface’s College into serious disrepute.

The report makes clear that breaches of conduct relate only to an expectation that Mr Eccles should exemplify in his behaviour the teachings of the Roman Catholic faith. As a result of the inquiry and the extensive media interest it has prompted, Mr Eccles has offered his resignation, which the Governors have accepted with effect from 30th June 2013.

Mr Eccles has asked me to pass on his comment to you that: “This episode has occurred at a particularly difficult time in my private life. I am pleased that this is now closed and I can resume my career with a new headship in Cumbria.”

I wish to acknowledge Mr Eccles considerable commitment to leadership of the College over the past few years. 

The priority of the College continues to be to ensure our students achieve their best through teaching and learning in a caring and supportive environment. We thank staff, students and parents for their help in achieving this in what has been a difficult time for the College.

I am pleased to inform you that Mr Andrew Davies will continue in his role as Acting Head Teacher until September 2014. During this period the College will agree permanent arrangements to come into effect at the start of the 2014-15 school year. 


Mr Davies has demonstrated excellent leadership during his tenure as Deputy Headteacher and Acting Headteacher and has won the trust and respect of both staff and students. The Governing Body looks forward to working with him to take the College on to new successes.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Hole

Chair of Governors

Could I take this opportunity to thank all those parents who responded to our recent OFSTED questionnaire. The inspection took pace last Wednesday and Thursday and we are awaiting the report from the OFSTED inspection team, expected before the end of term. As soon as we receive a copy we will of course pass the details on to you.

I do hope that you have had your passwords and usernames for the Sims Learning Gateway, SLG, where up to date information regarding your son and his progress can be found. It really is worth a look if you have not yet done so.

The new year 6 induction evening is this Wednesday, 3rd July starting at 6 pm with the 7th being the induction day for those new pupils joining us in September.

Please forgive me for such a short Blog this week  - the staff have all been very busy with the OFSTED team in.

I know that all clubs will be running as normal.

I intend to add to the Blog on Saturday morning, 29th June.

I hope you have a peaceful weekend.

Andrew Davies