Jarrow School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

located in

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and the Boldons as ...

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear: Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the north and Newcastl ...

, England admitting pupils aged 11 to 16.

History

It was opened on 6 January 2003 following the merger of Springfield Comprehensive and Hedworthfield Comprehensive, and is based at the old Springfield site. Its full title is ''Jarrow School, Engineering Excellence In Education'', the result of a competition to choose an inspirational name for the new school. In 2007 the school became a

specialist A specialist is someone who is an expert in, or devoted to, some specific branch of study or research. Specialist may also refer to: Occupations * Specialist (rank), military rank ** Specialist (Singapore) * Specialist officer, military rank in ...

Engineering College Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education ( Dip.Eng.)and (B.Eng.) or ( M.Eng.), and any advanced education and specializations tha ...

. The former Jarrow Grammar School opened in 1911. In June 2010, this building was demolished. In October 2013 the school's headteacher Sir Kenneth Gibson became the first person to be knighted by

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his pat ...

Springfield

Springfield was Jarrow's

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

and was formerly known as ''Jarrow Grammar School''. It became a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

in 1975 to cater for all prospective pupils' academic abilities, in common with the other schools in the area including Hedworthfield.

Hedworthfield

Hedworthfield was designated as a complementary

secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

to Springfield's provision as the local grammar school. It was a newer development built in the 1960s at Fellgate on the outskirts of Jarrow. Extensive building work was completed in the late 1970s providing the school with better facilities for arts and crafts, a music and drama studio, a community centre and a sports complex containing badminton and squash courts, a gym and other facilities. Alongside Springfield, it was converted to a comprehensive school in 1978. However, following its redesignation, some parents still insisted on sending their children to Springfield, even though they were no longer in its catchment area; they cited concerns that an ex-secondary modern school might not measure up to the same academic standards as the former grammar school. Additionally, Hedworthfield had no provision for teaching 6th form pupils, meaning that those choosing to study subjects at

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

had to relocate once they had completed their O-levels or

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

. Generally, 6th form students opted to transfer to Springfield to continue their education.

Merger

Following the dwindling number of pupils for the new intake year-on-year, it became apparent that continuing to fund the running of both schools in parallel was no longer viable, so a merger into a single school was proposed. After some debate as to whether it should be on one of the existing sites, or an entirely new site funded by a

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 ...

, the decision was taken to locate the merged school at the Springfield campus. Students at both schools protested, and more than 100 pupils at Jarrow School were involved in a "near riot" during the summer of 2003, during which police made three arrests.

New building

The old Jarrow School building has been replaced by a new school on the same site, funded by

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. Around half of the work was procured under the private finance initiative. The deli ...

. The building was constructed under contract by Sir Robert Mcalpine.

Notable former pupils

Jarrow Grammar School

Steve Cram Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle-distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arro ...

MBE, athlete *

Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling John Anderson Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, (born 4 August 1939) is a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament for over 30 years, serving for Whitehaven from 1970 to 1983 and then Copeland until the 2005 general ...

, politician * Robin Donkin, historian * Rear-Adm Sir John Fleming DSC, Director of the Naval Education Service from 1956 to 1960 * Jim Purcell, great north run legend and world war 2 veteran * Doug McAvoy, General Secretary from 1989 to 2004 of the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

(NUT) * John Miles (John Errington), musician * Fergus Montgomery, Conservative MP from 1959 to 1964 for Newcastle upon Tyne East, from 1967 to 1974 for

Brierley Hill Brierley Hill is a town and Ward (electoral subdivision), electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (originally in Staffordshire), England. It is located south of Dudley and north of Stourbr ...

, and from 1974 to 1997 for Altrincham and Sale West *

Alan Price Alan Price (born 19 April 1942) is an English musician who first found prominence as the original keyboardist of the English rock band the Animals. He left the band in 1965 to form the Alan Price Set; his hit singles with and without the group ...

, musician * Jarra Elvis, (Joe Allen) world famous Elvis tribute artist, featured on BBC’s 40 Minutes

Springfield Comprehensive School

* Alan Donnelly, Labour MEP from 1989 to 1999 for

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

* Stephen Hepburn, Labour MP from 1997 to 2019 for

Seymour Mace Seymour Mace (born 1969) is a British comedian and actor. Life and career Mace was born in 1969, and he moved with his family soon afterwards to South Africa as his father worked as a gold miner. The family returned to the UK, to Bedworth, nea ...

, comedian

References

External links

Jarrow School website

EduBase

News items

Fourth worst truancy figures in England in 2005

Head quits in December 2003

Arsonist jailed for 15 years in July 2003

Cornhill campus closes in 2003

Fire on 16 February 2003
{{authority control Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside Jarrow School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson Foundation schools in the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside Specialist engineering colleges in England