PRESS RELEASE - July 2013
Wiktor Daron and Kathleen O’Kelly both retired this academic year from Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe. Mr. Daron’s teaching career spanned thirty seven years, including twenty years of headship and twenty eight years of service to Catholic schools. Mrs. O’Kelly retired after thirty one years in teaching and seventeen of which were in Catholic schools.
For the past ten years Mr. Daron served as Headteacher and Mrs. O’Kelly as Deputy Headteacher of St. Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe, Manchester. During this decade, standards in the school have risen significantly and the school is now one of the most improved one hundred schools in the country. The school is housed in an impressive new building, successfully sharing the site with a school for pupils with special educational needs. The school has an engineering specialism; excels in technology, sports and creative and performing arts; has established strong links with the local community (including Manchester University and Manchester City Football Club) and supports many local and international charities, including an orphanage in Thailand (which is visited by groups of staff and pupils). Most recently, the school has become an academy, linking with a group of Catholic primary schools, to form the Wythenshawe Catholic Academy Trust.
Throughout their careers both Mr. Daron and Mrs. O’Kelly have maintained their dedication and passion for Catholic education, providing strong leadership in every aspect of school life and acting as positive role models for both staff and pupils.