New head of English joins ASFA

Mr Paul Owen has recently joined The Academy of St Francis of Assisi (ASFA) as the new head of English.

Mr Owen has been teaching for 19 years and has taught across four schools, from Year 7 all the way up to sixth form. Prior to joining the academy, he was at Christ the King Catholic High School in Southport.

He said: “The community ASFA serves was what attracted me, which was a world apart from where I was working in Southport; its uniqueness in terms of the school’s diversity excited me and the possibilities that a curriculum designed for this community could do.

“I see the English department at ASFA as a hub of literary curiosity and expertise focusing on literacy in its broadest sense, i.e. teaching students the fundamentals of reading, writing and oracy through the lens of differing social and cultural influences, from Shakespeare right up to the modern day.”

Mr Owen added: “First and foremost, I am looking forward to working with a very talented group of English teachers but also setting some new initiatives to help raise, even further, the profile of reading across the school so that a students’ experience of English at ASFA is both a positive and rewarding one in terms of their personal and academic achievements.”