St Joseph's Catholic Academy
| Motto |
Caritas Christi Urget Nos 2 Corinthians 5:14 The Love of Christ Spurs Us On |
|---|---|
| Established | 1959 |
| Type | Academy |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Headteacher | Frank O'Neill |
| Chair | Mr T Carney |
| Location |
Mill Lane Hebburn Tyne and Wear NE31 2ET England Coordinates: 54°57′35″N 1°31′21″W / 54.95985°N 1.52255°W |
| DfE number | 393/4603 |
| DfE URN | 139878 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports Pre-academy reports |
| Staff | 157 |
| Students | 1536 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours | Royal Blue and Gold |
| Former name | St. Joseph's Grammar School |
| Diocese | Hexham and Newcastle |
| Website |
www |
St Joseph's Catholic Academy (formerly St Joseph's RC Comprehensive School) is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school with academy status, located in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, England.
The school currently caters for students aged 11 to 18 and also a number of Vocational courses for 14- to 19-year-olds. It is the only secondary school in the local authority area that has a sixth form. The only other sixth form is found at South Tyneside College.
The school is on the B1306, near the A185 junction, in the south of Hebburn, one mile north of the terminus of the A194(M). It is on the district boundary with Gateshead. Further down Mill Lane until 1992 was the Monkton Coke Works.
History
The school opened as St. Joseph's Grammar Technical School in 1959, being officially opened on 9 June 1960 by James Cunningham, the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle. It was a grammar school with a technical focus (similar to a technical school) for catholic children in the north of County Durham, and the County Borough of South Shields. Further grammar technical schools were to be opened in Gateshead, Lanchester, Stockton and Whitley Bay.
St Joseph's became a comprehensive in 1974 when it merged with the neighbouring St James' RC Secondary Modern School, which was on the same site. The school gained specialist Technology College status in 1996.
The school converted to academy status in July 2013 and was renamed St Joseph's Catholic Academy.
Former teachers
- Bryan Purvis, Headmaster from 1997-9 of William Hulme's Grammar School, and from 1993-7 of Altrincham Grammar School for Boys (taught biology from 1969–74)
Austin Kane, Headmaster 1959-1974 James Vincent Curran, Headmaster 1974-1982 Bill Moran 1962 - 1992 Headmaster 1982-1992 Joseph Campbell ? - 2012 Frank O'Neill 2012 -
School prayer
Lord, help us to become the people you want us to be.In our School, may there be prayer,learning and humour,hard work, faith and friendship. May we respect everyone we meet, use our gifts and encourage each other. Send your angels to guide us and let your peace be with us and our families always.
We ask all these things through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Academic performance
The school performs well above the local authority average and currently holds the best GCSE and AS/A level scores in South Tyneside, with 84% of its students reaching grades A*-C at GCSE and an average AS/A level point score of 645.9.[1] The academic achievement, vocational and pastoral targets of the school was recognised by the DfES in the award of "Leading Edge" status in September 2003. An Ofsted report credited the students for "exemplary behaviour in lessons and throughout the school".[2]
At GCSE in 2010, the school came second in the local authority area, above the England average and second to another faith school, Whitburn Church of England Academy in Whitburn.
Notable former pupils
- Julie Kirvan, actress
- Robert Orton (audio engineer)
- Craig Russell (footballer) Sunderland A.F.C
- Emilie Fleming (Actress) Played Cosette in Les Misérables on the West End
- Rachel Burn - Creative Writing Award Winner 2013
• Josef Craig Team GB S8 Swimmer, Gold medalist in the 400m freestyle S7 at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Notable former pupils of St. Joseph's RC Grammar Technical School include:
- David Almond, children's writer
- Phil Brown, football manager
- Eddie Edgar, footballer
- Peter Flannery, writer, who wrote Our Friends in the North in 1982
- Brendan Foster CBE, 10,000 and 5,000 metre runner, 1974 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and Chancellor from 2005-2009 of Leeds Metropolitan University. Foster also taught chemistry at the school.
- George Irving (English actor), actor as Anton Meyer
- Aidan McCaffery, footballer
Former teachers
- Val McLane, actress in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Our Friends in the North, sister of Jimmy Nail
David Edgar - footballer (Newcastle, Burnley, Swansea, currently at Birmingham City)