St Joseph's Catholic Academy (formerly St Joseph's RC Comprehensive 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 ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

secondary school with academy status, located in

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the sou ...

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East 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 ...

, England. The school currently caters for students aged 11 to 18 and also a number of vocational courses. It is one of a number of secondary schools in the local authority area that has a sixth form. 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 Monkton Coke Works was a coking plant near Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, England. History The works were constructed in 1936, as the government's response to the Jarrow Hunger March Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county o ...

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 The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in the Province of Liverpool, known also on occasion as the Northern Province. History With the gradual abolition of the legal restrict ...

. It was a

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 school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...

with a technical focus (similar to a

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) for catholic children in the north of County Durham, and the

County Borough of South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the ...

. 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 In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 5 ...

status in 1996. The school converted to academy status in July 2013 and was renamed St Joseph's Catholic Academy. The Bede Block (PE department) of the school was opened by former England footballer Peter Beardsley MBE.

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. The academic achievement, vocational and pastoral targets of the school was recognised by the

DfES The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. ...

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". 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

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, Team GB S8 Swimmer, gold medalist in the 400m freestyle S7 at the

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* Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP since 2013 for

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the ...

* Rob Orton, DJ remixer and music producer * Craig Russell (footballer), Sunderland AFC * Perrie Edwards, singer in

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St. Joseph's RC Grammar Technical School

David Almond David Almond (born 15 May 1951) is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim. He is one of thirty children's writers, and one of three from the UK, to win the bie ...

, children's writer * Phil Brown, football manager * Eddie Edgar, goalkeeper for Hartlepool United in the late 1970s *

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, writer, who wrote '' Our Friends in the North'' in 1982 *

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CBE, 10,000 and 5,000 metre runner, 1974

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, and Chancellor from 2005-2009 of

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* George Irving, actor who played Anton Meyer in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'' *

Aidan McCaffery Aidan McCaffery (born 30 August 1957) is an English former professional footballer and football club manager. As player, he made 370 appearances in the Football League, playing as a central defender for Newcastle United, Derby County, Bristol R ...

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References

External links

*
EduBase

Hexham and Newcastle Diocesan schools

News reports
Skiing accident in February 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Academy Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in England Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Academies in the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside