Whitley Bay High School

Whitley Bay High School
Pictured in 2011
Address
Deneholm Monkseaton Whitley Bay , Tyne and Wear , NE25 9AS England
Coordinates	55°02′53″N 1°27′57″W
Information
Type	Foundation school
Established	1935
Local authority	North Tyneside
Trust	The North Tyneside Learning Trust
Department for Education URN	108638 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Headteacher	Mr Steve Wilson
Gender	Coeducational
Age	13 to 18
Enrolment	1,700
Colour(s)	Blue and White
Website	http://www.whitleybayhighschool.org

Whitley Bay High School is a coeducational upper school and sixth form located in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, England.

Admissions

The school has 1600 pupils; 500 are in the sixth form. In 2006, the school was awarded Specialist College Status in Science & Humanities.

It is situated next to Monkseaton Drive (A1148), towards the north of Monkseaton. There is s subway for access under the main road. It is in the parish of St Peter, Monkseaton.

Intake

Most students live in the surrounding area of Whitley Bay, Tynemouth and Monkseaton. The rest are from other parts of Tyne and Wear. The majority of students join the school from one of four middle schools: Valley Gardens Middle School, Wellfield Middle School, Monkseaton Middle School, and Marden Bridge Middle School. Many students remain at the school, from year 9 to year 13, taking A levels in the sixth-form (year 12–13).

History

Grammar school

The school was originally built as a grammar school in 1963, and was originally known as Whitley Bay and Monkseaton Grammar School. The buildings were officially opened on 7 December 1963, by Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth. It was formerly housed in what is now the Marden Bridge Middle School. The original buildings on site were A Block, B Block and C Block.

Comprehensive

In 1973, it became a high school. In 1995, the biology class of Elizabeth Pollock featured in the Radio 4 programme Six of the Best, looking at how the human eye worked.

Buildings

It has four main buildings, with several other outlying blocks around them. They are:

• A-Block: English, Modern Foreign Languages (French and German), Science (predominantly Chemistry), the school gym, canteen, main hall and various offices.
• B-Block: Mathematics, Geography, Philosophy and Ethics, ICT and an additional sports hall (known as B-Block Hall).
• C-Block: Childcare, Design and Technology, Media Studies, Food Technology, Healthcare, Science (predominantly Biology), learning support and Textiles.
• D-Block (built 2003): Art, Drama, Music, Science (predominantly Physics), the School Library, a music recording studio and a drama studio.
• E-Block (built 2008): Art and Textiles.
• F-Block: Psychology.
• G-Block: Business Studies and Economics.
• H-Block: History and a Reprographics office.
• I-Block: Physical education block for written work.
• S-Block: Media.

Renovation

As well as this, there is a block which contains the Physical Education offices, changing rooms, and main sports hall — it was refurbished in 2003. In 2006, major renovation took place for the 6th form facilities. The very small common room was emptied out, and extended into a new 2-storey block in between blocks A and B. This new block provides 6th form students with a 24 unit ICT facility, predominantly for their use, as well as a new 6th form cafe. The ground floor of this block consists of specialised IT rooms built. These rooms feature computers, projectors, interactive white boards and comfortable chairs. This is referred to as the ACL Block and features classrooms "SX1" and "SX2". Also, in mid-2006 there was a major renovation of C-Block and the science laboratories on its first floor was completed. The new building work included two observation classrooms (one a laboratory and the other a normal classroom), with one way mirrors allowing people in a small room in between the two observation classrooms to sit and observe lessons without being seen.

The school also offers use of their facilities and are available to rent. Facilities to rent include their 3 multi-purpose outdoor courts, their school Gym, their IT rooms and general classrooms.

Redevelopment

As part of the first wave of a Department for Education school rebuilding project, the school is currently undergoing a major redevelopment, with plans for the majority of the main buildings to be demolished upon the completion of a new grounds. Work on the new building began in May 2022 and is planned to conclude in September 2023, in time for the new academic year. Demolitions of the old school will then continue until July 2024 and will involve the destruction of all buildings built before 2000 incorporating modern sections into the new school

Student TV Station

The school has its own student television station, Bay TV, conceived in 2006, through a student-teacher partnership. All programmes are broadcast through its own website. The mainstay of the station's broadcasts are 'Jam Today,' a popular music show, and 'It's Baytime!' a news & current affairs programme.

Former pupils

• Rudolf Abel, aka Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher – KGB spy, born in Benwell.
• Alan Campbell – MP for Tynemouth, taught History at the school from 1980–9, and married a former pupil.
• Frank Collins – SAS Soldier, first to enter the building in the Iranian Embassy Siege. Later ordained as a Church of England minister. Committed suicide in 1998 a year after the publication of his book 'Baptism of Fire'.
• Dan Ellis BEM, – Entrepreneur, Prime Ministers Points of Light Awardee, BAFTA Love of Film Award Winner.
• Graham Fenton – Footballer who formerly played for Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City.
• Sam Fender – Musician and Brit Award Winner
• Prof Sir Lawrence Freedman CBE, Professor of War Studies since 1982 at King's College London, and one of the inquirers of The Iraq Inquiry
• John Thomas Young Gilroy – English artist and illustrator, best known for his advertising posters for Guinness, the Irish stout.
• Paul Noble – artist, creator of Nobson Newtown, an ongoing series of drawings of an imaginary surrealist city.
• Alex Oates – Award-winning playwright and screenwriter.
• Joyce Quin – Baroness Quin of Gateshead, former MP for Gateshead East, also former prisons minister and deputy agriculture minister.
• Peter Ramage – professional footballer
• Lucy Ratcliffe – model and Britain's Next Top Model, Cycle 1 winner.
• Andrea Rea, aka Huffty – presenter of The Word (TV series).
• Greg Rutherford, professional footballer
• Michael Shanks – British archaeologist who taught Latin, Greek and Ancient History 1983–1988.
• Steven Tupling – former Middlesbrough, Hartlepool United and Cardiff City player, formerly taught PE at the school.
• Roger Uttley – former English rugby union player. Taught PE in the 1970s.
• Dame Ethel Wormald, Labour councillor and Lord Mayor of Liverpool
• Will Lenney, Successful YouTuber with over 4 Million Subscribers.

External links

• Whitley Bay High School official website
• EduBase