St Aidan's Catholic Academy

St Aidan's Catholic Academy
Motto	Deus Lux Nostra trans. God is Our Light
Type	Academy
Religion	Roman Catholic
Headteacher	Mr K Shepherd
Chaplain	Mr A Watson
Location	Willow Bank Road Ashbrooke Tyne and Wear SR2 7HJ England Coordinates: 54°53′35″N 1°23′18″W / 54.89298°N 1.38839°W / 54.89298; -1.38839
DfE number	394/4607
DfE URN	139538 Tables
Ofsted	Reports Pre-academy reports
Students	1237
Gender	Boys
Ages	11–18
Website	www.staidanscatholicacademy.co.uk

St Aidan's Catholic Academy (formerly St Aidan's Catholic School) is a Roman Catholic boys' secondary school and sixth form with academy status, situated in the Ashbrooke area of Sunderland. It caters for boys from ages 11 to 18, providing GCSE and A Level and GNVQ qualifications as part of its teaching programme. The school was founded by the Christian Brothers, and is coupled with St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy, its sister school which is located nearby. It is also twinned with St Joseph's Agricultural School In Blama, Sierra Leone.

St Aidan's has forms into which each year is divided. These forms are Aquin, Bede, Rice (together they are known as ABR) and Corby, Fisher and More (known as CFM). The school is split into two main buildings: the main school, which caters mainly for boys up to Year 11, and the Briery, which provides facilities for the 6th Form and the History and Geography departments, collectively known as Humanities.

History

Canon Smith, then parish priest of St Mary’s in Sunderland, founded St Mary’s Grammar School at Bede Towers in 1928/29. The building in Burdon Road is a villa in Italianate style originally the home of mayor John Moore. Records show the first schoolmaster, Mr J Goundry, was a layman.

The Jesuits took over the running of the school in 1935 – two years after taking on Ashbrooke Hall as a retreat for local Catholic men and renaming it Corby Hall. Ashbrooke Hall, in Ashbrooke Road, had originally been built for glassmaker James Hartley in 1864 by architect Thomas Moore, whose masterpiece was Monkwearmouth Station. It later became the home of the Short shipbuilding family, before being taken over by the Jesuits. The original Superior of the teaching staff, and of Corby Hall Retreat House, was Father SJ Whittaker. It was opened on 8 October 1933 by the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, Joseph Thorman and closed in 1973.^[1]^[2]

The school transferred from Bede Towers to The Briery in Ashbrooke Road in 1936 – previously the home of Mr Craven of Craven Ropery. There was a pedestrian tunnel under the road to gardens opposite, which the school later used as a sports ground. The name was then changed to Corby Hall, to avoid confusion with another school. Further confusion arose, however, between Corby Hall and Corby Hall School, so that “an interchange of letters was necessary after each of the postman’s rounds,” according to Jesuit archives.

Just a year later, in 1937, the name of the school was changed yet again, to Sunderland Catholic College, and in 1939 it became Corby School. The dedication of both Corby School and Corby Hall recalled, according to the Jesuit archives, the historical association of Sunderland with Father Ralph Corby who was captured by Puritans in 1644 and hanged. The name Corby School lasted until 1948, when the Jesuits left and handed running of the school over to the Christian Brothers of Ireland.

It was renamed as St Aidan's RC Grammar School and remained a grammar school until 1973, when a new school block and gymnasium building was completed on the opposite side of Ashbrooke Road and linked to the old school site by a tunnel. At this date the school was reclassified as a comprehensive school, although the last 'grammar school' pupils took their O-levels in 1975. St Aidan's retained the Briery building for use by the sixth form. Ashbrooke House was used as a retreat by the Brothers for many years, but was sold off in the 1970s and demolished to make way for flats.

In April 2013, St Aidan's Catholic School was converted to an academy and renamed St Aidan's Catholic Academy.

Other information

St Aidan's school uniform is black blazer with black crest, black trousers, black shirt and a degrading black 'Clip-On' school tie with colours relative the student's year group. St Aidan's pupils have the option of wearing a black school sweatshirt/jumper with their black blazers.

BLACK

Notable former pupils

Tom Coyne – Broadcaster
Dennis Donnini VC – recipient of the Victoria Cross
Micky Hazard – former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea footballer
Mick Harford – football manager and former Sunderland and Newcastle United footballer
Kevin Dillon – former Portsmouth, Newcastle United, and Birmingham City footballer. Now assistant manager at Reading
Steve Howey – former Newcastle United footballer
Lee Howey – former Sunderland A.F.C. footballer
Dan Smith – Aberdeen footballer
Chris Steele – Television Doctor
Mike Elliott – Actor, Comedian and radio show host.
Lee Robinson – Current Rangers footballer

References

↑ Corby Hall, Sunderland from The Tablet retrieved 14 March 2014
↑ Jesuits Close Retreat House from Catholic Herald retrieved 14 March 2014

City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

Education	Academy 360 Argyle House School Biddick Academy Castle View Enterprise Academy ESPA College Farringdon Community Academy Grindon Hall Christian School Hetton School Kepier School Monkwearmouth Academy Oxclose Community Academy Red House Academy St Aidan's Catholic Academy St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy St Robert of Newminster Catholic School Sandhill View Academy Southmoor Academy Sunderland College Sunderland High School Thornhill School University of Sunderland Venerable Bede Church of England Academy Washington School

Places of interest	Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens Stadium of Light Penshaw Monument National Glass Centre Sunderland Empire Theatre St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth Sunderland International Airshow Washington Old Hall Monkwearmouth Station Museum Sunderland Aquatic Centre The Bridges WWT Washington Keel Square New Wear Bridge

Local media	Sunderland Echo Sun FM Spark FM

Twinned places	Essen Saint-Nazaire Washington, D.C. Harbin

Sport	Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Ladies

Schools in Tyne and Wear

Primary	Academy 360 Excelsior Academy Grindon Hall Christian School Hilton Primary Academy Kings Priory School

Middle	Gosforth Central Middle School Gosforth East Middle School Gosforth Junior High Academy Marden Bridge Middle School Valley Gardens Middle School Wellfield Middle School

Secondary	Academy 360 Benfield School Biddick Academy Boldon School Burnside Business and Enterprise College Cardinal Hume RC School Castle View Enterprise Academy Churchill Community College Emmanuel College Excelsior Academy Farringdon Community Academy George Stephenson High School Gosforth Academy Grindon Hall Christian School Harton Technology College Heaton Manor School Hebburn Comprehensive School Hetton School Heworth Grange Comprehensive School Jarrow School John Spence Community High School Joseph Swan Academy Kenton School Kepier School Kings Priory School Kingsmeadow Community School Longbenton Community College Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy Marden High School Monkseaton High School Monkwearmouth Academy Mortimer Community College Norham High School Oxclose Community Academy Red House Academy Sacred Heart RC High School St Aidan's RC Academy St Anthony's Girls' RC Academy St Cuthbert's High School St Joseph's RC Academy St Mary's RC Comprehensive School St Robert of Newminster RC School St Thomas More School, Blaydon St Thomas More Academy, North Shields St Wilfrid's RC College Sandhill View Academy Seaton Burn College South Shields Community School Southmoor Academy Studio West Thomas Hepburn Community Academy Thornhill School Thorp Academy Venerable Bede CE Academy Walbottle Campus Walker Technology College Washington School Whickham School Whitburn CE Academy Whitley Bay High School

Independent	Argyle House School Dame Allan's School Newcastle High School for Girls Newcastle School for Boys Royal Grammar School Sunderland High School Westfield School

Further Education	Dilston College ESPA College Gateshead College Gateshead Jewish Academy for Girls Newcastle College Newcastle Sixth Form College South Tyneside College Sunderland College Tyne Metropolitan College Usworth Sixth Form

Defunct	Breckenbeds Junior High School Gateshead Grammar School Heathfield Senior High School Hookergate School Hylton Red House School La Sagesse Newcastle upon Tyne Church High School Ryhope Grammar School St Mary's CE Primary School

Places formerly run by the Society of Jesus in Great Britain

Schools	St Peter's Catholic Comprehensive School, Bournemouth Campion School, Hornchurch St Michael's College, Leeds St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool Beaumont College, Old Windsor Preston Catholic College Hodder Place, Stonyhurst St Aidan's Catholic School, Sunderland

Institutions	Campion House College, Osterley Corby Hall Harlaxton Manor Heythrop Park Loyola Hall Parkstead House Woodhall House, Juniper Green

Churches	Sacred Heart Church, Accrington Sacred Heart Church, Blackpool Sacred Heart Church, Bournemouth St Mary on the Quay, Bristol Corpus Christi Church, Brixton St Edmund's Church, Bury St Edmunds Annunciation Church, Chesterfield Holy Trinity Church, Chipping Norton St Mary Church, Clayton-le-Moors St Michael and St John Church, Clitheroe St David's Church, Dalkeith St Mary's Church, Great Yarmouth St Francis Xavier Church, Hereford St Winefride's Church, Holywell Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Leeds Sacred Heart Church, Leeds St Joseph's Church, Leigh Our Lady of Ransom and the Holy Souls Church, Llandrindod Wells St Aloysius Gonzaga Church, Oxford Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Portico Our Lady Immaculate and St Joseph Church, Prescot St Ignatius Church, Preston St Walburge's Church, Preston St Joseph and St Francis Xavier Church, Richmond Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Rhyl St Joseph Church, Roehampton Holy Cross Church, St Helens Church of St Mary, Lowe House, St Helens St Stephen's Church, Skipton St Ignatius Church, South Ossett St Austin's Church, Wakefield St John's Church, Wigan Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon Christ the King Church, Wimbledon Park St Winefride Church, South Wimbledon St George's Church, Worcester

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