The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust
# The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust

The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust is a group of thirteen schools in the North West Leeds, Ilkley and North Yorkshire area that converted to Academies since 2013. The trust is named after Gordon Wheeler, the seventh Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds from 1966 until 1985.

## Member schools

The Bishop Wheeler Academy Trust has 13 member schools:

| School name | School type | Date joined |
| - | - | - |
| St. Mary's Menston | Secondary | 1 March 2013 |
| St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School Otley | Primary | 1 March 2013 |
| St. Mary's Horsforth Catholic Voluntary Academy | Primary | 1 March 2013 |
| St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pudsey | Primary | 1 March 2013 |
| Ss Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School (Yeadon) | Primary | 1 April 2013 |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Ilkley | Primary | 1 April 2013 |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School Knaresborough | Primary | 1 July 2015 |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Harrogate | Primary | 1 July 2015 |
| Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy Cookridge | Primary | 1 August 2015 |
| St. Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery Skipton | Primary | 1 August 2015 |
| St Robert's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, a Voluntary Academy | Primary | 1 March 2021 |
| St John Fisher Catholic High School, Harrogate | Secondary | 30 November 2021 |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (Tadcaster) | Primary | 1 February 2022 |

The proposals by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds state there are 4 other schools that could join the trust.

## History

In March 2012, plans were announced for Catholic schools across the Leeds Diocese to investigate teaming up to form trust academies that would no longer be under local authority control. The Governing Bodies of St. Mary's Menston and four other schools considered a proposal of converting to Academy status in 2013 and forming together a Multi-Academy Trust. A consultation period occurred between September and October 2012. The academy conversion took place on 1 March 2013. The logo of the trust is Bishop Wheeler's Episcopal Coat of Arms. The first Chair of the Academy Trust Board was Caroline Hyde. The second Chair of the Academy Trust Board is Diane Gaskin.

