Father Michael Hall was elected as Chair of Governors at Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College in October 2025. Born in Barnsley, raised in Wakefield and now living in the surrounding areas of Brighouse, Fr Michael describes himself as ‘optimistic realist’ who uses this in his leadership of the Board of Governors with encouragement, integrity and accountability.
To welcome Fr Michael to the new role as chair of Governors, we sat down with him to learn more about his background, governance, faith at Notre Dame and getting to know Fr Michael beyond his role.
Career Journey
Although Fr Michael is now a Catholic Priest of two Parishes, he didn’t grow up Catholic. Rather, he was a member of the Church of England and became a Vicar at a Parish in Halifax. Over time, he felt out of place and moved in a more ‘Catholic direction’ and was able to gain insight into the denomination during his time within the Church. Eventually, to maintain his integrity and be true to himself, he felt he had to become ‘a proper Catholic’. As a result, Fr Michael had to give up his job and home and retrained to become a secondary school Maths teacher in Oldham to support his wife and family.
Within his first year, the Bishop of Leeds asked if he would put himself forward for ordination. As he was married (and the majority of Catholic Priests are unmarried) he had to apply to the Pope for exemption. He wrote to Pope John Paul II who replied and gave permission enabling Fr Michael to be ordained as a Catholic Priest and continued to teach. After jokes from colleagues about the promotional opportunities of being a Priest, his local Catholic secondary school asked him to be a governor where through a bit of an accident, he became Chair of Governors – his first experience in governance.
Fr Michael went on to become Deputy Head at a school in Dewsbury, allowing him to pay off his mortgage. To enable him to dedicate more time to his Priestly Ministry he set up an education consultancy business. After four years, the Bishop asked Fr Michael if he would like to temporarily look after the parish where he lived – he enjoyed this so much that he never stopped!
After stepping down as Deputy Head, Fr Michael became a Foundation Governor after reuniting with his old Physics Teacher (Notre Dame’s previous Principal!) at a conference held here.
Governance
Fr Michael explained the role of a governor – ensuring that the College is spending the government’s money well, whilst giving oversight and encouragement to the Principal and Senior Leadership team. As Chair, Fr Michael is to make sure that members of the governing body are working together in a productive and fruitful way.
In the role, Fr Michael is most excited for the development of new and exciting possibilities for Notre Dame. Whilst he doesn’t view himself as a creative thinker, he prides himself on his ability to bring together other people’s ideas, creating one big super idea. He is excited to keep Notre Dame in its fantastic position, making sure that we stay ahead of the curve – making sure that we aren’t missing out on ‘the next big thing’, falling flat like the likes of Nokia or Kodak.
Faith and Leadership
To Fr Michael, Notre Dame’s Catholic ethos means caring for each of our staff and students as individuals, rather than trying to produce ‘identical people’ and forcing faith onto people. He highly values our PTE programme which provides students with an intellectual aspect by asking some serious life questions, enabling them to consider some of the big aspects in life. Fr Michael believes in the importance of promoted virtue-based education within the city of Leeds, showing that as a College, we are about faith, hope and love – “It’s not just about being excellent (which we are!), it’s about being excellent in a principled way.”
When asked about how faith and education support each other, Fr Michael reflected on St Catherine of Siena’s phrase, ‘Be who you were meant to be, and you will set the world on fire’. Meaning that education at its core is about helping young people to be who they’re meant to be and that when helping them to have the ability to set the world on fire, or become leaders, then you are having a massive impact on society.
The Real Fr Michael Hall
As a Parish Priest, Fr Michael’s weekends are busy with Masses. Instead, he tries to take Mondays as a day off where he enjoys reading, landscapes and geology. As a former Maths Teacher, he enjoys recreational mathematics which is using maths to solve interesting problems. His version of doodling in a meeting is setting himself a mathematical problem and working it out to help his concentration.
People may be surprised that despite being a Catholic Priest, Fr Michael has a family; a son, a daughter, and three granddaughters. Fortunately, everyone has been very accepting of this, saying that because he’s lived a ‘normal’ family life he is arguably more understanding.
Fr Michael is a big believer of living in the present, ‘Now is the most important time. Here is the most important place. The person you’re with of what you’re doing is the most important’. However, when asked to name his favourite memory, Fr Michael reflected on his daughter’s wedding, where he conducted the service.
We’re all looking forward to working with Father Michael Hall in his new role as Chair of Governors and to the experience, insight and leadership he will bring to Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College as we continue to grow and thrive in the years ahead.
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