St Mary's College, Middlesbrough
Encyclopedia
St Mary's College was an independent Catholic college situated in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

, 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 2011 St Mary's College closed, although its buildings, staff and educational provision were merged with Trinity Catholic College, Middlesbrough.

Grammar school

Under Middlesbrough Education Committee, it was the St Mary's College R.C. Grammar School, a voluntary aided grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

, with around 750 boys. Before around 1962 it was on The Avenue. The site on Saltersgill Avenue was between Acklam Hall Grammar School to the west and Middlesbrough High School, in Marton, to the east.

Also in Middlesbrough was its sister school, St Mary's Convent R.C. Grammar School FCJ
Faithful Companions of Jesus
The Faithful Companions of Jesus Sisters was founded in Amiens in France in 1820 by Marie Madeleine de Bonnault d'Hoüet. They are a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope.-Service:...

 with around 600 girls on Newlands Road in Linthorpe, formerly known as Newlands Grammar School previous to when it moved to Saltersgill Avenue at the same time that St Mary's College moved there. In 1974 it became Newlands School FCJ, latterly the Newlands Catholic School FCJ, a mixed comprehensive, and closed in 2009, and became Trinity Catholic College when it merged with St David's Roman Catholic Technology College.

Sixth form college

In 1968, Middlesbrough Education Committee changed its admissions policy and it became a sixth form college, also known then as a senior high school.

Academic performance

St Mary's described itself as a 'Catholic College for the whole community', and was the only sixth form college of its type in the Northern region. The college offered A levels
GCE Advanced Level
The Advanced Level General Certificate of Education, commonly referred to as an A-level, is a qualification offered by education institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Cameroon, and the Cayman Islands...

 across the Sciences, Mathematics, Humanities, Arts and Modern Languages subject areas, as well as GCSEs
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...

 in a number of subjects.

In 2010 Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

 carried out an inspection at St Mary's and found the college to be inadequate
Special measures
Special measures is a status applied by Ofsted and Estyn, the schools inspection agencies, to schools in England and Wales, respectively, when it considers that they fail to supply an acceptable level of education and appear to lack the leadership capacity necessary to secure improvements...

. This, along with falling student numbers due to competition from the upgraded Middlesbrough College
Middlesbrough College
Middlesbrough College, located on one campus at Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, England, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, is the largest college in the Tees Valley.-Admissions:...

, meant that the decision was made for St Mary's College to close in Summer 2011.

Closure and merger

The college was officially dissolved
Dissolution
Dissolution or dissolve may refer to:* Dissolution , in law, means to end a legal entity or agreement such as a marriage, adoption, or corporation...

 on 31st July 2011. The post-16 education provision provided by St Mary's College was taken over by Trinity Catholic College, which expanded to offer sixth form provision, housed in St Mary's old site at Saltersgill Avenue. Students enrolled at St Mary's were able to continue their education at Trinity.

Notable alumni

  • Kevin Connelly
    Kevin Connelly
    Kevin Connelly was born in Middlesbrough, England. He is an impressionist comedian, and after dinner speaker and is probably most famous for his role on the popular BBC television programme 'Dead Ringers'....

    , comedian
  • Steve Gibson (businessman)
  • Sean Gregan
    Sean Gregan
    Sean Matthew Gregan is an English professional footballer. A defender, he has played in all of the top four leagues in England.- Early career :...

     (footballer) (born 1974) English footballer who previously played for Preston North End FC, West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United
  • Martin Narey
    Martin Narey
    Martin Narey was the Chief Executive Officer of Barnardo's from October 2005 before stepping down in January 2011 to spend more time with his family...

    , Director-General from 1999-2003 of HM Prison Service
    Her Majesty's Prison Service
    Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...

    , and Chief Executive since 2005 of Barnardo's
    Barnardo's
    Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children and young people. As of 2010, it spends over £190 million each year on more than 400 local services aimed at helping these same groups...

  • Liam Plunkett
    Liam Plunkett
    Liam Edward Plunkett is an English cricketer, who plays for Durham and England. In the 2005 season he was Durham's leading first-class wicket-taker, with 51 wickets at a bowling average of 30.84, including eight for 88 in his first game of the season against Leicestershire.-Test cricket:Plunkett...

     (cricketer)(born 1985) English cricketer currently playing for Durham County
  • Rob Smedley
    Rob Smedley
    Rob Smedley is a race engineer for Formula One driver Felipe Massa at Scuderia Ferrari....

     (Formula 1 engineer) (born 1973) Race engineer for Felipe Massa
    Felipe Massa
    Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...

     at Scuderia Ferrari
    Scuderia Ferrari
    Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....


Grammar school

  • David Coverdale
    David Coverdale
    David 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...

     (musician)(born 1951) British rock vocalist born in Middlesbrough and lead singer of band Whitesnake
  • Maurice Foley
    Maurice Foley (politician)
    Maurice Anthony Foley was a British Labour Party politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich at a by-election in 1963, and represented the constituency until his resignation from the House of Commons in 1973...

     CMG (1925–2002), British Labour Party politician, MP, junior minister and professional civil servant with the European Commission.
  • Donald Tyerman
    Donald Tyerman
    Donald Tyerman CBE was an English journalist and editor.Tyerman was born in Middlesbrough. He contracted polio at the age of three and was paralysed from the neck down, although over the next ten years he did eventually get back full use of the whole of his body except his legs - he needed splints...

     CBE (briefly), Editor from 1956-65 of The Economist
    The Economist
    The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

  • Paul Vallely
    Paul Vallely
    Paul Vallely CMG is a leading British writer on Africa and development issues. He first coined, in his seminal 1990 book Bad Samaritans: First World Ethics and Third World Debt, the expression that campaigners needed to move "from charity to justice" – a slogan that was taken up by Jubilee 2000 and...

    CMG, journalist
  • Rt Rev Kevin Vasey OBE, Principal Roman Catholic Chaplain and Vicar General (Army) from 1997-2002
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