St. Bede's Catholic Comprehensive School
Encyclopedia
St Bede's is a Catholic secondary comprehensive school
in Peterlee
, County Durham
, England
. In summer 2006 it achieved its best-ever GCSE
exam results. It is an 11-18 school for boys and girls living in the East Durham area. The school holds specialist Humanities College
status.
, but actually opened for staff and pupils in September 1969. Then only the first-year students, born in 1957-58, were a truly non-selective 'comprehensive' intake. These were the first Catholic pupils in the area not to sit the 11 plus examination. Second-year and upwards pupils were all pupils who had 'failed' the 11-plus and were thus taken from the various Catholic secondary modern schools in the area that had been closed and replaced by the new institution.
Meanwhile, those older students who had passed their 11-plus in 1968 and earlier years continued to be educated at the St Francis RC Grammar School
(boys) and at the Convent (girls) at Hartlepool
. When those schools closed in 1973, some of these pupils finally arrived at St Bede's as sixth-formers. The school was thus effectively a secondary modern for the first few years of its life.
The school's founding head teacher was Mr D Milroy, a former teacher at St Francis. The first Deputy Headmaster was Mr Cunningham.
The school was organised on a 'house' system. Originally there were four of these, each named after a local bishop: Hogarth, Chadwick, Berwick and O'Callaghan. Members of each house were supposed to wear braiding on their green uniform blazers to denote which houses they belonged to. Hogarth was red; Chadwick was yellow; Berwick was blue; and O'Callaghan was green.
Each house had its own dining hall where the housemasters conducted morning assemblies. Only very rarely, such as at the belated 'official' opening of the school in 1970, did the entire school assemble together.
In the early years, most pupils left school as soon as they could, which in those days was at 15. 1972 was the last year that pupils were able to leave school at 15 (that is, at the end of the fourth year) and it was only after this date that appreciable numbers stayed on into the sixth form. Indeed, in the early years, even the fifth form was very small.
A new purpose-built sixth-form block was opened in September 1973. In September 1974, true comprehensive school status was achieved when some of the first-year intake of 1969 entered the Sixth Form.
Corporal punishment, in the form of caning
, was used in the early years of the school, but only the housemasters and headmistress (Miss Cockburn) were allowed to administer it.
In May 2009 the school lost a member of the English Teaching staff when Mr A.McElrue died in a car accident on his way into school.
The school now is due to be rebuilt in September 2010 as part of the governments BSF Scheme.
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
in Peterlee
Peterlee
Peterlee is a new town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners and their families.Peterlee has strong economic and community ties with Sunderland and Hartlepool.-Peterlee:...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In summer 2006 it achieved its best-ever GCSE
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
exam results. It is an 11-18 school for boys and girls living in the East Durham area. The school holds specialist Humanities College
Humanities College
Humanities Colleges were introduced in 2004 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, humanities. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Humanities...
status.
Early History
The school was officially opened in 1970 by Bishop Hugh LindsayBishop Hugh Lindsay
Hugh Lindsay was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.Hugh Lindsay was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 20 June 1927. He was educated at St Cuthbert's Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Ushaw College, Durham...
, but actually opened for staff and pupils in September 1969. Then only the first-year students, born in 1957-58, were a truly non-selective 'comprehensive' intake. These were the first Catholic pupils in the area not to sit the 11 plus examination. Second-year and upwards pupils were all pupils who had 'failed' the 11-plus and were thus taken from the various Catholic secondary modern schools in the area that had been closed and replaced by the new institution.
Meanwhile, those older students who had passed their 11-plus in 1968 and earlier years continued to be educated at the St Francis RC Grammar School
St Francis RC Grammar School
For the school of the same name in Quetta, Pakistan, see St Francis Grammar School.St Francis RC Grammar School was a Catholic grammar school for boys, in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It opened in 1956 and was subsumed into The English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College in...
(boys) and at the Convent (girls) at Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
. When those schools closed in 1973, some of these pupils finally arrived at St Bede's as sixth-formers. The school was thus effectively a secondary modern for the first few years of its life.
The school's founding head teacher was Mr D Milroy, a former teacher at St Francis. The first Deputy Headmaster was Mr Cunningham.
The school was organised on a 'house' system. Originally there were four of these, each named after a local bishop: Hogarth, Chadwick, Berwick and O'Callaghan. Members of each house were supposed to wear braiding on their green uniform blazers to denote which houses they belonged to. Hogarth was red; Chadwick was yellow; Berwick was blue; and O'Callaghan was green.
Each house had its own dining hall where the housemasters conducted morning assemblies. Only very rarely, such as at the belated 'official' opening of the school in 1970, did the entire school assemble together.
In the early years, most pupils left school as soon as they could, which in those days was at 15. 1972 was the last year that pupils were able to leave school at 15 (that is, at the end of the fourth year) and it was only after this date that appreciable numbers stayed on into the sixth form. Indeed, in the early years, even the fifth form was very small.
A new purpose-built sixth-form block was opened in September 1973. In September 1974, true comprehensive school status was achieved when some of the first-year intake of 1969 entered the Sixth Form.
Corporal punishment, in the form of caning
Caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
, was used in the early years of the school, but only the housemasters and headmistress (Miss Cockburn) were allowed to administer it.
In May 2009 the school lost a member of the English Teaching staff when Mr A.McElrue died in a car accident on his way into school.
The school now is due to be rebuilt in September 2010 as part of the governments BSF Scheme.