About Us

St Thomas Catholic Voluntary Academy is the sole Catholic primary school in Ilkeston serving the large parish of Our Lady and Saint Thomas of Hereford.

We are proud to continue a tradition of Catholic education in Ilkeston that has formally existed from the 1897.

The school was opened in this year, next to the church, by Bishop Bradshaw. The school was further extended to include an Infant block in 1935. This was officially blessed and opened by the Bishop of Nottingham. The school grew further through the 1950s until the building of a secondary school – St John Houghton – was commissioned, which was opened in 1964. The current school located at Church View was officially opened in October 1974.    

We aim to create a caring Christian atmosphere based on Gospel values and a love of Christ which teaches children respect for themselves and for others. We feel this atmosphere makes everyone aware that they should contribute towards the Christian ethos of our school.

Our school encourages everyone to grow in faith through prayer and worship and seeks to recognise that each individual is valued as being unique.  We will provide a curriculum which will develop the full potential of every child. We strongly encourage the partnership between the school, home, and parish in order to foster relationships with the wider community

Our school is proud to be part of St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust. Formed as a partnership of the Catholic Academies in the Diocese of Nottingham, we are a family of schools united by a collective vision to excel. We position ourselves at the forefront of the community, working together to provide children with the knowledge, inspiration and guidance needed to fulfil their God-given potential.

We give our staff the support and space needed to focus on teaching, creating the best learning experience possible for our children.

Headteachers:

1897-1902: A.E. Cox

1902-1903: C Dennis

1903-1907: M.A. Hadican

1907-1908: A. Gough

1908-1912: A. Mahon

1912-1913: W. Firth

1913-1914: A. Blandford

1914-1945: J Rigby

1945-1970: F.J. Lavin

1970-1974: E. Kilcoyne

1974-1985: A.G. Lugg

1985-2006: D.E. Jones

2006-2015: M.G. Geraghty

2015-2022: G. Lobb

2022-Present: M Sellors.